Street Fighter: Lost Shadow
by Aegis Khaos
Summary: She thought she had gotten over it, she thought it was all in the past. However, a single transmission prompted veteran Delta Red agent, Cammy White, to a remote island to confront her demons and exorcise them once and for all...
1. Round 1

**Street Fighter: Lost Shadow**

_Round 1_

He was known by many names.

Monster.

Beast.

The Merciless Giant.

The Scarred Reaper.

Seven feet tall. Three hundred eighty seven pounds of muscle and scars. Skin as dark as ash. He was as grim and gargantuan as all his nicknames implied. And in everything he did, he did so with the motto of 'by any means necessary'.

At the moment, however, Avery Lewis wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

The pretty pixie blonde of a commanding officer had called him to the training room for one final sparring session before leaving for her R&R. The scarred giant hesitated at first, especially given the last work out the two of them had, which ultimately laid him out on the mat for thirty minutes courtesy of a well placed 'Spin Drive Smasher' to the face. In her sweetest, most innocent look she could give, the blonde promised him this one would be a quick one, which he still hesitated given the last one lasted for less than two minutes. She then promised him some pizza, wings, and beer all on her tab before she leaves. One bat of her eyelashes, and he suddenly found himself on the training mat awaiting his next beating.

Now that he signed his soul away, the thought of pizza, wings, and beer at once started to look less appetizing…

"Are you ready?" the pixie blonde called out, flicking her ponytail to the side before stepping into her fighting stance.

* * *

><p><em>Two hours before the sparring match, it started out as another uneventful day.<em>

_The last mission Delta Red had been called upon, a small band of unknown terrorists managed to infiltrate a secret military base on a remote island and hold its staff hostage. Using the compound as their base of operations, the group procured the weapons from within and threatened to hold the world hostage lest their demands were met. Panic had stricken the populace, uprisings from secret followers had stirred. For the band of wannabe rulers, it was a chance to gain power and recognition beyond their wildest imagination._

_For Cammy White, it was Tuesday._

_MI6 quickly dispatched Delta Red to the terrorists' location, and in just a matter of moments, the hostages were freed, the band had been neutralized, and the compound recovered. Delta Red was credited for yet another successful mission, Cammy was once again rewarded, and life returned to normal for the island._

_That was weeks ago. With little to nothing else to do save for the continual observing and training of the latest batch of hopefuls, Cammy was eventually given a much deserved vacation. Though she wouldn't admit this to anyone, not even to herself, the diminutive blonde had to admit, she found some sadistic joy in tormenting these new recruits, particularly one soldier whom she found much potential: a seven foot giant of a man whose skill in combat was matched only by his temperament. Her superiors considered him much too wild to handle. She, on the other hand, relished a challenged, and made a bet with one of the officers. One or two sparring matches later, she tamed the untamable (some even wondered how that man was still alive), and was two hundred pounds richer for it._

_Still, the fun could only last for so long before she found herself bored, and it had been months since she last saw her friends. She was looking forward to the rest. Thus, on a Saturday morning, Cammy began packing her belongings, tucking them neatly into her suitcase while humming happily to herself. Wishing to try a different look for herself, she allowed her long golden mane to fall to her back, and tied it to a ponytail with a small ribbon. Looking at herself in front of a mirror, she brushed back a lock of hair hanging over her forehead, and turned her head to the side to get a better view. As she stared at the reflection, the blonde absentmindedly traced her index finger along the scar on her cheek. Even with that one blemish, Cammy still couldn't help but admire the image staring back at her, and she almost allowed herself to smile. Afterwards, she went over to her bed to pack the remainder of her clothes._

_At that point, her computer terminal chimed with an incoming transmission. Curious, she gently placed the shirt in her arm onto the suitcase, and walked over to the terminal. Spinning the monitor on the desk, Cammy tapped her fingers lightly on the touch screen, and suddenly felt her blood boil at the sight of the face greeting her. "Of all the people…"_

"_Hello, Cammy," a spectacled woman with copper skin and fiery red hair answered pleasantly with a smile. _

* * *

><p>Avery adjusted the wrappings around his fists while keeping his eyes fixed on his opponent. Earlier when Cammy begged him for this match, she sounded cheerful when she had called him for this match. Now she looked serious like he had never seen before. Certainly he had seen her serious before, but this was something different, something, as best as he could put it, colder. He couldn't answer his commander, <em>dared<em> not to answer. This, he realized, was going to be a session unlike any other he had with her, and that thought frightened him all the more. He swallowed the lump in his throat… or would have if he wasn't so shaken on the inside.

"Well?"

The giant nearly tripped himself over with a start and gulped hard. Avery silently raised his fists and squared himself to his superior. With a nod of his head, the match commenced…

* * *

><p>"<em>It's been a long time."<em>

"_Not long enough," Cammy immediately replied. "How did you get a hold of this channel? It is heavily encrypted…"_

_The woman cut off the blonde with a mere grin._

_Cammy let out a sigh. "Never mind…" she muttered. "After all this time, I thought you had settled down."_

_The woman in the monitor chuckled. "As much as I would like to settle down and play the housewife, I still have bills to pay," she continued. "Unlike your commando friend with the broom brush, I can't go home and be a family man…" she shuddered. "By the way, you look to be in good health. I like what you did to your hair. In fact, I think the ponytail suits you more than those pigtails. Not that I have anything against pigtails to begin with." The copper skinned woman casually brushed back her mane with a gloved hand, revealing a single long braid hanging just behind her back._

"_Save the pleasantries for another time," Cammy snapped. "What do you want?"_

"_Still the life of the party I see."_

"_And you're still a cold hearted snake."_

"_Touché," the woman smiled proudly, pushing the bridge of her glasses with her finger tips. "People don't call me 'Viper' for nothing."_

* * *

><p>Cammy was right in front of him, as usual, and began with a kick to the midsection. Somehow, Avery managed to raise his arm to block the kick, and swung his massive fist at the woman's head. The woman parried the attack and came back with a pair of jabs of her own. Both blows were easily avoided and countered with a knee aimed to the midsection, which Cammy quickly managed to block.<p>

With each second the clock ticked, Avery felt himself adjusted to his commander's speed, anticipating and blocking her attacks with a little more ease. Normally, he would consider this an accomplishment, but a voice in the back of his mind told him, 'It's a trick, stay on your guard.' Not one to underestimate the woman, he continued to play cautious, throwing quick, successive lefts and rights and blocking Cammy's counterattacks in turn. The woman was not getting any head way in her attacks, but neither was she putting much effort, he thought, noting the lack of sweat from her brow, or lack of sound coming from her lips.

The seconds continued to tick, and neither opponent managed to connect with either blow. Wanting to end this quickly (and savor the pizza, wings, and beer without being laid on a stretcher), Avery seized his next opportunity and lunged in for a mighty chop with his right hand…

* * *

><p><em>Cammy glared at the monitor quietly with contempt. "Again, what do you want?"<em>

"_And again, still the life of the party," Crimson Viper shook her head, deciding the two have exchanged pleasantries long enough. "What I am about to tell is considered highly sensitive. Most of my superiors don't even have knowledge of this, and the few that do would skin me alive if I so much as breathe a syllable. The fact that I've managed to speak to you with so many eyes watching is a miracle in itself. As such, I will need you to keep this conversation between the two of us."_

"_The plot thickens…" the blonde murmured sarcastically._

"_As much as I would like to continue trading barbs with you, I'm afraid my time is limited. And frankly, between my less than reliable associates, the broom brush commando off the radar, and the China doll still missing (not that I find them any better to deal with), you are unfortunately the only one I can count on."_

_The blonde agent found it rather difficult to trust the red haired spy given their torrential past. In her younger days, the two had crossed paths on several occasions, often times interfering in one another's business. One particular event found the blonde on the receiving end of a brutal beating courtesy of the spy, a memory which still lingered to this day… Cammy straightened herself and folded her arms across her chest. "Really now? And what is in it for me?"_

"_My heartfelt gratitude and a lifetime supply of kitty litter?" Crimson Viper answered with a quip. Even at a time like this, the red haired agent couldn't help but take one last jab at her English counterpart._

_Cammy let out an audible scoff. "My apologies, but I feel like we're both wasting each other's time, though unlike you, I have some prior engagements to attend to. But you know what? It's been fun chatting again. Good day." With a crooked smile, she quickly reached over to the touch screen to terminate their communication…_

* * *

><p>"Here's a present for you!" the woman announced, and leapt onto the giant's shoulders. Wrapping her legs around his head, she gave the neck a quick twist ("Easy!"), deftly dropped herself behind the giant's massive legs, bringing the man down over her back and onto the mat while gracefully wrapping her legs around his arm for an arm breaker ("Yah!"). Finally, still grasping his arm, she spun upright in the air and positioned brought Avery into a prone position, grabbing his head again with both hands, and gave it a final twist ("It's all over.").<p>

The match was over, the victor stood over her opponent with hardly a sweat on her brow, and the loser would find eating and drinking very difficult.

* * *

><p>"Subject has broken from containment!"<p>

"Cover the scientists – "

"Everyone, pull back, pull back!"

"Where the hell is my back up – "

"Readings are off the charts – "

"Watch out!"

Bzzzt…

_The recording had last all of thirty two seconds before it fizzled and ended abruptly, yet Cammy felt herself stiffen at the images on her screen. Watching men die was nothing new for the agent, and the sight of soldiers and scientists alike, though tragic, was nothing out of the ordinary. The cause of those deaths, on the other hand… fire and malice, an effigy of pure evil with eyes as white as death itself. Though the face was blurred from the shaking of the camera, there was no mistaking what she saw._

Who_ she saw._

_The sight of this man… this monster… was the last thing she ever thought she would see again…_

* * *

><p>"That was fun," she winked at the groaning giant. "We should do this again when I get back. See ya." Patting the man gently on the shoulder, eliciting a wince from the giant, Cammy strode out of the training room humming to herself, her ponytail swishing left and right as she walked.<p>

As for Avery, he remained motionless on the mat. He barely even felt the pain from the initial twist, but now it was excruciating. As humiliating as his loss was, there was something that bothered him. More than the pain on his arm and neck, more than the fact that his commander had just left him unceremoniously on the mat a near cripple, and even more than the fact that she likely forgotten about her promise of pizza, wings, and beer, this one thing would nag him, _torment_ him for the rest of the hour, day, week, month… possibly even for the rest of his existence.

"How am I not dead?" he groaned weakly.

* * *

><p><em>While the shaken agent struggled to find her voice, Crimson Viper looked on, betraying no hint of emotion in her face. Yet even her thoughts swirled at the recording, cursing in her mind how lightly her agency seems to be taking it.<em>

"_Two of my best men died to get this recording to me," the Crimson Viper stated. "The last thing I was told was that the facility itself was brought down and our target hadn't left the facility since. That was three days ago."_

_Cammy brought her arm back, clenching it into a fist. It had been years since she felt these kinds of emotions, a mixture of anger, fear, confusion, and everything else in between. Emotions she had thought she had buried long ago. Gritting her teeth, it took all her strength to calm herself down and regain some semblance of composure. "If this is a lie…" she seethed._

_The copper skinned spy looked back with a sullen expression, sympathizing with the blonde agent for once. "For everyone's sake, I hope it's a lie."_

_And at that point, Cammy knew her vacation had unofficially ended._

* * *

><p>Cammy paused to meet her associates as she sauntered through the lobby that was MI6. She gave a wave here, a smile there, a hug over there, hiding her true feelings as she said her goodbyes. With the routine check-ups and formalities over and done with, Cammy slung her pack over her shoulder and exited through the doors.<p>

Outside, a car awaited her arrival. Again, she smiled and waved at the middle aged driver as she hopped in through the passenger side, tossing her pack behind her seat and slumped.

"You look lovely as always," the driver said.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she bowed her head and grinned. "You always say the loveliest things, dear Carlyle."

"I like your ponytail," he added.

"You're making me blush," she winked. "Keep this up, and I might marry you before the day ends." The blonde agent had to admit, even a man in his middle ages, agent Carlyle was still in top form as expected of a veteran such as he, slim yet firm and well toned underneath his military garb. Though he had a couple of lines here and there on his wizened face along with a clean shaven scalp, she still found him quite handsome. At the very least, he always treated her well whenever they met, even if the meetings were brief. A true gentleman, she thought, almost like in those Bond films. If she was real naïve, she'd probably even think her words were genuine and end up in the sack with him. Luckily, she wasn't.

"Not if the lady of the house has anything to say," he laughed. "She'd skin me alive if she found out, and that's if she's being merciful."

"What a shame," Cammy sighed.

"What can I say? I do take my vows seriously when I put that ring on." As if Cammy needed proof, the driver showed off his ring on his massive finger, the sunlight glinting off its sheen.

"Lucky woman." She meant it from the bottom of her heart. She also thought the man was lucky enough to find someone to settle down with, let alone smile about it. In their line of work, maintaining a family is probably one of the most difficult things to do, and it takes a special kind of woman to maintain order in the house while the spouse is away risking life and limb for the queen.

"Lucky me," the driver leaned back as though agreeing with her sentiment. "But, really, you look real good today. Got a hot date already?"

"As if," Cammy rolled her eyes. "All I've done was change my hair. You've seen me in this shirt and jeans before."

"If you say so," Carlyle shrugged. "So, where to?"

Cammy thought long and hard where to go. Before Crimson Viper's revelation, she had hoped to stop by in America, hoping to reacquaint herself with a few of her old comrades overseas. Guile, for one along with his wife and daughter, Ken Masters for another, along with Eliza and their sons. She had hoped to surprise them, and perhaps spar with both men in between. It had been a while since they had fought, and it would be nice to fight people who could actually challenge her skills.

Heck, even Dan Hibiki would make her break a sweat… now and then.

Probably more than anything else, however, she wanted to be there for their loss: Chun Li was renowned for being the 'strongest woman in the world', and she had earned that title many times over. After years of chasing after justice, fighting off her personal demons, she had finally settled down to begin a normal life. At first, she adopted several children and both raised them and trained them as her own. Eventually, however, she managed to also find herself a husband, one that could even keep up with the 'strongest woman in the world', and bore a child of her own, a daughter from her last recollection. Cammy was happy for her former Interpol comrade and friend, even a little jealous of her happiness. Then, one day, her family went missing, and things were never the same. Chun Li, and the rest of her family for that matter, had been special to all three of them, and she had regretted not being there for Guile or Ken when news broke of their disappearance. Cammy said she would be there, promised to see them…

And yet, this will have to wait again. Thanks to Crimson Viper, she once again had to put aside her visit because of duty, but this one was different. This was a personal demon she had to deal with, one she shared with many others in the past, but especially with Guile and Chun Li. And she had to deal with this one alone; Guile had indeed settled down as a 'family man', and the family would not like seeing this wound reopened the way it did to her. She thought back to the video, thought back to the genocide, thought back to the cries and screams of many men and women. Most of all, she thought back to the image of flames, of chaos… and the monster who wielded them in the palm of his hand. And the eyes… those hideous, pupiless eyes…

Vega's eyes…

"To the airport," she chirped. "I've got someone waiting for me."

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<strong> Forgot to mention this. For one minor reason, I am using the JP naming instead of the NA naming, ergo the Dictator will use 'Vega' instead of M. Bison. It's a very minor thing that isn't necessary for future chapters or stories, and I myself have grown up with Boxer as Balrog, Claw as Vega, and Dictator as Bison, just that an idea I have just seems a tad more suitable with using the original name instead of the NA name.


	2. Round 2

**Street Fighter: Lost Shadow**

_Round 2_

Two days had passed since she left headquarters and found herself on a tropical island along Southeast Asia.

On the first day, Cammy decided to mingle with some of the locals, playing the part of the tourist to keep any unsuspecting eyes off her tail (not that she was expecting such people, though one can never be certain) while preparing herself for the journey ahead. From what Crimson Viper had given her, the coordinates to the destroyed compound would lead her somewhere in a remote forest away from the rest of civilization. Stories amongst the residents abounded about how men had wandered into the woods and either wound up dead or, for the lack of a better word, changed. Some of the locals went so far as describing the forest as being haunted by evil spirits. Whether anyone believed those myths are not, all agreed that it was very dangerous. For the average man or even soldier, the trek would be quite perilous without proper supplies and an army behind his back. As this was supposed to be a vacation and not an official Delta Red mission, she had little to nothing save for some baggage and her fists.

Just as well. This trip was personal, and she had no desire to bring any company along.

The following day, she left her motel before the crack of dawn and, with the help of a friendly local driver, left civilization behind her. The sun had risen, without a cloud in sight, welcoming the new day in its warmth. Twenty five minutes of winding through steep hills and ravines later, the driver arrived at the outer edge of the forest. Another six or so minutes of traveling along damp earth and trees, the car stopped, unable to proceed any further.

"For your troubles," she said, handing the driver some cash and, with a fetching smile, waved him away. Slinging the pack over her shoulder, she began the rest of her trek on foot.

An hour and a half later, Cammy began to understand what the locals meant. Whatever warmth the sun's rays had provided had all but evaporated, replacing it with a cold chill. The mud itself started to cling to her boots more firmly, forcing the blonde to exert more strength into her strides. In another hour, the branches became thicker and denser the further she walked, the earth steeper and more insidious with each step. As she delved deeper, some of the native wildlife started to greet her, mainly tropical snakes and bugs of many shapes and sizes. One particular snake quietly slithered along a branch just above her head, eyeing the blonde warily with its yellow eyes. As Cammy paused to rest against the tree, the snake inched closer along the branch, its forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. The blonde wiped the sweat off her soaked brow and gulped back some water. Even under the chill, she felt hot from the trek. Watching from high above where eyes could not see, the snake continued its attentive watch on the woman. Coiling back, it bared its fangs with a venomous hiss and struck…

_Hsssssss!_

Reaching her arm behind, Cammy caught the snake with a quick snap of her hand and seized it by the back of its head. She watched it writhe wildly in her hand expressionless with ice cold eyes…

_Hsss…. Hsss…._

The snake stopped writhing and looked back at the woman with helpless trepidation. Cammy merely crooked her head as she watched the animal silently…

_Rustle… CRACK!_

…and quickly tossed the snake towards a nearby brush.

"Son of a – " a voice cried out.

With reflexes of a cat, Cammy leapt towards the brush with a muddied right boot extended, and managed to graze a massive shoulder before landing softly onto the dirt. Before the intruder could respond, Cammy quickly grabbed the man by the arm and flipped him onto his back.

"Wait!" the man bellowed.

Cammy's boot was mere inches away from his throat when she stopped. "Avery?" she blinked.

The seven foot giant stared at his commander as though his life flashed before him. "Uh… ma'am…"

The blonde seized the giant by the hand and yanked him to his feet, slapping him on the back of his head on the way up. "What the hell are you doing here!" she exclaimed. "Why are you even following me!"

Rubbing his clean shaven head, Avery looked at the blonde with a pained grin on his face. "You still owe me a beer," he said plainly, reaching his long arm over to grab a backpack he had dropped behind the bushes.

He never managed to reach the pack. Cammy was incredulous. Shocked, angry, and violent like she had never felt before, one Avery found out all too quickly as she shoved the giant twice her size against a tree and pulled his head down by the collar. "This isn't a game, rookie," she glared with those large, icy blue eyes. "This is something that could get you court marshaled, and that's the best case scenario! More likely killed if you happen to make one misstep!"

"Nothing we've never handled before," the mammoth grunted through scarred lips.

"Don't be a fool, rookie!" she spat with contempt. "This is nothing like our usual missions. Those are a stroll in the park compared to this one."

"What are we even after!"

"_I_ am going after a man!" she exclaimed, her grip on his collar vice-like. "A monster! I have no time to babysit a rookie like you!"

'Rookie', she called him, and in her eyes he probably still is, yet the word chafed him raw. Whether it was courage or stupidity, a part of him was not going to let her chew him up like this, not even the likes of Cammy. "You still don't think I'm ready, do you?" he seethed.

The blonde woman growled at the new recruit, a man she had personally took under her wing. The woman didn't utter a syllable; the eyes revealed more than sentences could.

The giant looked down at his superior with cold, dark eyes of his own, yet there was some trepidation in his part. From the first time they had sparred, Avery had both a great respect of Cammy, along with a healthy dose of fear. There were men and women out there with a special talent, a gift for fighting, that much he knew. Such people, he realized, were also rare, even within agencies such as MI6, and for a moment, he thought he was alone. He did make one mistake in his assessment: he fancied himself as the cream of the crop. Then Cammy bumped fists with him and he suddenly realized, talented as he was, just how far he had to go.

As harsh a background as he had come from, Cammy came from one that was far, far worse as evidenced by her skill. She had never talked about her past, nor did she want to, which was fine with him. For him, the past was the past, and one shouldn't dwell upon it as opposed to the here and now, and given the way Cammy would sometimes cringe over said subject, it was definitely a topic best left alone. The few stories she did share, however, fascinated him, particularly the stories of her street fighting days and the opponents she had fought, from wild beasts that spewed electricity to giants as big as himself fighting grizzlies or pile driving sharks to floating men with stretchable limbs to noble warriors capable of pushing back a waterfall with a burst of 'ki' or simply a fist to monsters and demons wielding powers so twisted it borderlined on black magic. That was probably the most frightening thing about those tales; as tough as she was, fighters superior even to Cammy exist… and he himself found it next to impossible to match her on a good day.

That's right, she, who somehow managed to twist his arm and neck (the latter twice) and render him immobile without killing him, never mind crippling him. The thought of that move still made him wince, even if some men find getting hit by that move a fleeting fantasy…

He wondered how someone like him would fare against such opponents. Within MI6, they were considered two of a kind by all the agents, the beautiful blonde and her pet beast. Outside of Delta Red and MI6, seven feet tall as he was, he felt unusually small like he never felt before. Not in the streets, not in the confines of MI6, not even in the field of combat.

Would he even be a glimmer in the eyes of real titans?

Yet a real titan he must become, as he stared down at Cammy, steeling his resolve. She took him in because she thought he had potential. Now would be a good time to bear its fruit.

Cammy glared into the eyes of her pupil, waiting for an answer. She got none, not a syllable out of his lips; the eyes revealed more than sentences could. "You really wish to die?" she finally said.

The mammoth grasped her tiny wrists in his massive paw. "You… owe me… a beer." Her lips twitched. His neck ached. Both beauty and beast stood their ground.

"Fine," she surrendered, shoving the man lightly. "You want to die, fine."

The moment Cammy turned her back, Avery let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Since you are too stubborn to leave in spite of my little warning," the blonde continued, "I will have to simplify my orders to a level you would understand. You will follow my instructions down to the letter. You will do nothing unless I tell you to. When I say march, you march. When I say fight, you fight. When I say piss, you will piss. When I say retreat…" she turned and looked him square in the eye, "you retreat. Got it?"

The giant straightened himself and saluted his superior with a toothy grin. "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

><p>Neither agent said much the rest of the way.<p>

Aside from a few pests here and there, the forest seemed to have left both agents alone, making the trek somewhat more manageable. The rocks were still treacherous, the trees still dense, and the slopes still slippery, yet the worst the forest could offer were a few bruises and mild irritations. Avery seemed to find the trek more difficult than Cammy due to his immense size. The branches kept getting into his face as did the cobwebs and the occasional wildlife smacking him across the face. As strong as he was, carrying that massive pack of his weighed him down almost as much as the forest itself. The blonde felt a little sorry for him, though the man kept his vigil and kept pace.

"Stop," she raised an arm.

The mammoth man stopped in his tracks just as he was told and knelt low next to her. "What is it?"

"Hush," she whispered, and pulled out a pair of binoculars from her bag. Staring at what appeared to be an open field, she held the binoculars to her eyes and stared through the lenses.

"Well?"

"Did I tell you to speak?"

The giant fell silent and waited.

"According to that snake, the facility should be over there…" she muttered, though she saw nothing but a field of grass and stones… and smoke. Cammy shoved the binoculars back into her pack and looked at her pupil over her shoulder. "It isn't too late to turn back."

Avery cracked his knuckles and smacked his face with his massive paws. "You kidding? I've been waiting for this."

Cammy let out a sigh. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

><p>The walk towards the open field was also relatively uneventful.<p>

Bits of tall dying grass and blown rock littered the ground, a small stream of murky water trickled along a ravine down a slight waterfall, tree stumps decorated the yellow and green grasslands in some areas. Somehow, as hazardous as the forest was, the desolate field looked even more depressing.

"So far, so good," Avery sighed.

"Again, did I tell you to speak?" Cammy snapped.

The giant grumbled to himself, but dared not to utter another word.

Cammy continued her slow approach towards the plume of smoke with Avery following close behind. Large as he was, the giant managed to remain quiet, his steps equally as deft as hers. The blonde had to give the man credit, though green in some areas, he still managed to keep himself covered, blending himself with his surroundings. An average man half his size wouldn't have been as quick as Avery was, nor as quiet. And he was learning quickly, a big plus.

"You sure no one is watching?"

"Positive. Most of the cameras have been destroyed, and the few that were around, I've disabled."

The giant nodded with apprehension. "Are you sure this 'monster' would still be here?" he asked dubiously.

"I know he's still here," she replied. "I can feel it… and I thought I told you to shut up."

Avery did all but raise his hands. "Just asking… ma'am."

It felt like hours had passed, though the distance to the smoke was relatively short. Cammy kept her wits as did Avery, taking care to remain low in spite of the apparent inactivity. As they approached closer to the smoke, the Delta Red agents became more cautious. Even Avery in his inexperience began to sense… it… whatever it was.

"When we do find this 'monster'," he said, "what are we gonna do about it?"

Cammy at first didn't answer. Admittedly, she didn't think this one too thoroughly, save that she find him. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

"I feel better already," he moaned.

Suddenly, they heard a faint rustle in the grass. The Delta Red agents stopped in their tracks, their senses following the sound. The blonde waved her hand and crawled towards one of the larger overturned stones nearby. Leaning against the stone, Cammy carefully pulled out her binoculars and peered over the rock. From her initial vantage point, the figure wallowing along the yellow grass was that of a man, tall and slight of build, torn cloth dangling loosely on his body. Upon closer inspection, faint sparkles of indigo seem to burst from the tears like small fireworks. Zooming in closely, her suspicions were founded: burnt metal and frayed wires poked out from underneath the cloth from the shoulder, chest, and arms, small beads of current crackling from the circuitry. There was no skin on the 'man', save for dull metallic grey sheen from the exposed head and parts of the body where the clothing was torn. The most notable feature she noted were the two yellow eyes, flickering against a sculpted metallic face, along with an emblem of a skull on a pair of wings etched faintly to the forehead: the emblem of Shadaloo.

"Wonderful," she muttered.

"Uh… ma'am?"

The woman lowered her binoculars and nearly gaped at the sight. Several 'metal men', equally damaged as the one she saw, surrounded the agents from all sides, electricity surging from their exposed circuitry, and eyes blazing a bright yellow. They stumbled with each step, clearly damaged from whatever caused the apparent destruction of the facility, yet their presence remained ominous and hostile as they gradually approached Cammy and Avery.

"What's the plan?" Avery asked, his brow twitching.

Cammy dropped her binoculars into her pack and stood up. The androids continued to saunter towards the agents, raising their arms to kill. "Lewis," she beckoned the giant with an impish smile. "Smash."

Avery lifted himself off the ground and gave himself a quick stretch. "With pleasure, ma'am," he replied with a sadistic grin.

The androids suddenly broke into a clumsy charge, lunging towards the agents. Cammy and Avery stood their ground, biding their time as they lowered themselves into their respective fighting stances. They waited patiently, waiting for the droids to get closer. Then, like a pair of lions, they struck.

The quick and nimble Cammy reached the androids first, spinning in the air with her body tucked, then extended both legs outward and descended into a dive. Both feet landed square in the torso on one of the androids, the strength of the kick shattering the chest plate in a single stomp. Crouched low on top of the now shattered droid, Cammy spun on her heel and delivered a vicious roundhouse to the head of the next machine, then leapt into the air and landed on the shoulders of a third. Wrapping her legs tightly around its head, she pulled back with the weight of her body, and flipped the machine onto its head into a frankensteiner.

Meanwhile, Avery charged towards another android like a bull, using his massive bulk and barged into the robot with his shoulder. The machine flew backwards, crashing and tumbling head over heel along the grassy ground before smashing against the stump of a tree. Spinning to his left, he swung his muscular arm and connected with his right fist against the metallic skull of another, shattering it under his might.

As the agents fought, more droids began to appear seemingly out of nowhere, tongues of electricity crackling. Watching as their 'comrades' fell, the eyes of these droids suddenly changed from yellow to crimson, their heads reared back as steel jaws opened into a chorus of tormented roars. Then, in unison, they leapt.

"And here I thought it would be quick," Avery snickered, holding one of the damaged droids by the skull. Digging his fingers into its eyes, he lifted the machine off its feet like a child holding a mere toy in his hands, and threw it into the incoming charge. The damaged droid collided with one of its 'comrades', smashing both into pieces in the process. Grinning sadistically, he planted his feet firmly on the ground, welcoming the new swarm of androids with twitching fingers. In one smooth motion, he caught one of the droids by the ankle and slammed it hard to the ground. Just as quickly, he swung his right arm into the air and caught another droid by the face and tossed it towards another charging droid as though tossing a piece of trash.

Just a few feet away, Cammy lifted her left leg into the air and caught one of the red eyed droids squarely with her heel to its chin, shattering its jaw. For a moment, it seemed time stood still as the droid floated in the air. In one graceful move, Cammy spun on her right heel, lowering her left leg to the ground. Pushing herself off the ground with the now lowered left leg, she thrust her right leg upwards and delivered a crushing kick to the droid ("Cannon Spike!"), this time sending the droid hurtling away to its demise. Immediately, the blonde landed on her hands and flipped back to avoid another droid who dived into the ground with its steel foot, cracking the earth below with superhuman strength. Cammy spun her body around and rewarded the droid with a backhand to the midsection.

_KA-CHAK!_

Several droids lifted their arms and revealed a pair of gun barrels hidden from their wrists. Eyes ablaze in red, they opened fire.

Cammy utilized her smaller size and agility to hop away from the gunfire while Avery grabbed a droid in each hand to block the incoming gunfire.

"I don't suppose you managed to stow some weapons with you," Cammy said between clenched teeth, leaping behind the shelter of a rock. The pack she had was blown to shreds, and with it her weapons she managed to procure.

"As a matter of fact, I just might," Avery replied, tossing the damaged droids from his hands and leapt towards his still intact pack. Reaching into the bag with his right hand, he managed to pull out two grenades within its bowels. Leaping away from the gunfire, he pulled the pin from one of the grenades with his teeth and tossed it towards the rampaging droids. Dust and dirt flew upon impact, as did some of the droids unfortunate enough to stand within the blast radius. The giant sidestepped another onslaught of bullets and, pulling the pin out, tossed the second grenade towards the mob. Another explosion tossed the earth into the air in a loud 'boom', ravaging another group f androids in its destruction. A few more droids, however, continued to fire, raining death onto the agents. As surefooted as a cat, Avery quickly leapt behind a rock large enough to hide his frame, barely managing to avoid getting pierced by several bullets. Cammy leapt from her shelter and ran straight to Avery's position, ducking in time to avoid her brains spilled by an errant shell.

"What else you got in there?" she huffed.

"A few more grenades, a pistol…" he muttered, foraging through his massive pack. "And this little thing," he added, revealing an unassembled automatic.

Cammy let out a quiet breath. "I suppose those will have to do."

"We've done more with less," Avery pointed out.

"We also didn't have to worry about gun toting robots off a sci-fi cliché," Cammy reminded.

"True, but if the best they could offer is a bunch of b-rated hand-me-downs, a hundred of them won't even scratch us," the giant smiled with confidence.

"You are full of yourself, you know that?"

"I'm just telling it as it is, ma'am."

Blowing back a strand of her blonde hair, Cammy pulled out the pistol from the pack along with its clips and holstered it to her belt. She pulled out one grenade and held it tightly in her fist. "You can have the rest."

With that, Cammy bolted from the shelter of the rock and confronted the droids, leaving Avery to assemble his firearm. "Make sure you leave some for me!" he shouted. "And you still owe me a beer!"

"I'm very certain I told you to shut up!" Cammy hollered, firing her pistol at the hordes of droids. Years of grueling training with Delta Red had only served to improve her marksmanship as shots managed to land squarely on the foreheads of her targets. The sheer caliber of the bullets tore through the heads of the droids, sending them plummeting to the earth. The woman felt rather pleased with herself, though she continued to press forward, firing back at the droids while dodging their aim. Soon, she emptied the chamber of her pistol, and quickly reloaded before continuing her charge. When she got close to one of the robots, she quickly lowered her gun and engaged it in hand to hand combat, delivering a quick left and right from her fists, and finished it off with a kick to the chest, downing it for good. She fired a single round at another droid, obliterating its head from the shot, then leapt onto a headstand on top of the shoulders of a third. With a twist of her body, Cammy ripped the head off the droid's neck and allowed it to drop as she leapt away to confront the next attacker. Five more rounds later, she dropped the empty clip and reloaded her pistol with another cartridge. "Any time you're ready!" she hollered again, tossing the grenade in her hand towards the shooters.

Without uttering another word, Avery spun from his hiding spot and unleashed hell at the droids. The gun in the giant's hands was a comical sight to behold, the size of the firearm looking awfully small in his large mitts. In spite of his appearance, however, droids still fell one by one from the gunfire, adding his hail to Cammy's own in the process. Once he reached Cammy's position, he gestured with his pack, urging her to grab new clips from the bag.

"Go!" she commanded.

The agents sprang forth, momentarily forgetting why they were here and more concerned with preserving their own lives. In spite of the numbers, the agents looked unstoppable, the Killer Bee and the Scarred Reaper. Blood red eyes flared from the droids creating a foreboding ambience in the field, raining death from their machine guns, yet none were able to land their marks. Cammy and Avery unleashed their own brand of hell, and many androids fell under the hail of lead. When any of the agents got close, Cammy would use her speed to smash her way through while Avery used his size to crush his opposition with his hands. When the numbers seem to block their path, Avery solved it with a quick toss of a grenade. Indeed, the two looked unstoppable.

The barrel of Cammy's gun clicked. "I'm out."

Avery held squeezed the trigger of his firearm, and dropped the weapon in disgust. "Same here."

Surrounded at all sides, the agents stood back to back, watching as the glow of red eyes glared at the intruders. The giant raised his fists as did the pixie blonde.

"I said a hundred of them couldn't scratch us," he muttered. "I think there's more than a hundred."

"Heh…" Cammy gazed back at the androids with clenched fists.

The droids continued their death march, their arms raised in unison, preparing to finish the job.

"Question," Avery said.

"What is it, Lewis?"

"Two, actually… that move you used when we sparred last time… what was it called… and how was I not dead?"

"CQC," she said.

The giant furrowed his brow in confusion. "I've never seen that kind of CQC before…"

"Cammy Quick Combination…" she clarified, "and I was being gentle."

The chambers of their guns clacked, sending an echo across the field.

Avery wasn't too fond of the answers she had given, though truth be told he wasn't sure how to feel about them. The giant lowered his body, prepared to fight to his death. "You give your moves the cutest names."

"I still beat you," she huffed, wiping her lip with the back of her hand.

All at once, the androids opened fire…

_Rumble-rumble-rumble-_

Or would have save for the ground cracking below. The androids felt their footing give as the earth split, and many were swallowed under the dirt. Cammy and Avery couldn't decide at first if it was a blessing, until the fissures drew closer. More worrisome, however, were the explosions erupting from underneath, swallowing the droids in a hideous purple flame.

"Lewis… run."

The reaper and the bee broke into a sprint, though both realized it wasn't going to do them much good. The fissures opened faster than their legs could carry them, spreading their tendrils across the field to the edge of the forest. The stones, trees, and tall grass that once served as protection against the droids became obstacles in their mad dash for higher ground. The ground itself quaked so violently it was all the agents could do to maintain their balance while running. Columns of purple fire would shoot from the ground into the air, impeding their movement. If nothing else, both agents were stubborn, hopping over a newly made ledge here, sidestepping a fissure there, climbing, scaling, dodging the cracks and droids alike.

"Ah!" Avery yelped as a piece of burning rubble grazed his massive arm.

By then, their luck had run out. The cracks have decimated their path all the way to the forest, leaving a chaotic upheaval in their wake. Several fissures and cracks gave way, creating massive holes all around. Cammy and Avery stood back to back on the last piece of footing within what was once a desolate field. Flames shot up from the openings, burning evil and death all at once.

"Seeing as we're not leaving any time soon, I have something important to say," the scarred man said.

"What is it?"

Gesturing with his head, he said, "I like your ponytail."

Cammy gave the man an awkward smile. "And here I thought you were gonna tell me I still owe you a beer."

"Well… that, too."

The earth beneath their feet gave way, and the reaper and the bee began to fall into the abyss. Oblivion awaited them both.

* * *

><p>…at least that was what Cammy had thought the moment she woke. Her vision was a blur, her head throbbing in pain as she attempted to lift herself up. Her arms wobbled and gave, causing the blonde to stumble back, scraping her arms in the process.<p>

"Ah!" she yelped with embarrassment. _Better to get my bearings first…_ she thought sheepishly. Rubbing the ache from her temples, Cammy slowly lifted her head off the ground and looked.

The blonde wasn't sure what to really make of her surroundings. It looked to be a room of sorts, yet whatever it was and whatever it once did, it was ruined underneath scorched dirt, rock, and twisted rubble. Small sparks of electricity snaked through broken and exposed cables thicker than her own arm. Murky water dripped from overhead, leaving a puddle next to her boot. The air itself reeked of earth and sulfur, so much that Cammy almost gagged from inhaling the cloud of dust.

Her head still a blur, she rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands, and found that to be a mistake as her eyes started to water and itch. That was when she realized something was missing… something very important… something or someone that came with her when she fell… _Lewis!_

"Lewis!" she called out, bolting herself up. Her body ached all over, her head ringing with pain, yet she forced herself to her feet. Fumbling against the rubble while fighting against the pounding sensation beating in her skull, she called out the giant's name again while waiting for her equilibrium to be restored.

_Damn that oaf! Where the hell is he!_

Feeling a bit impatient, Cammy released her hold from the rubble and took her first step. No sooner did she take her next step did she hear a faint sound. At first, she thought it was just the rubble toppling to the ground and paid little heed to it. The sound, however, grew louder as though something was getting closer. Her head still pounded, but the haze in her mind cleared enough to realize what that sound was.

Footsteps.

"Lewis…" she rasped quietly. _I have to find him…_

She stumbled quietly, tripping over some small rocks but managed to keep her footing. Her heart began to race, the adrenalin flowing as her senses began to warn her of danger.

The footsteps grew louder.

Cammy kicked over the remains of a Shadaloo droid, its head sliding along the dusty metal ground. She had to find Avery and she had to find him fast, but she had no idea where to look first. Then there were those blasted footsteps, slow, methodical, yet more audible with each passing moment. She had to hurry, she told herself, yet her body wanted to rest even when her gut told her to move. Willing herself, she put one foot over the other, telling herself to keep walking.

Then she stopped walking. A blaze of purple flame suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, blinding her momentarily. The purple effigy was no larger than a man, yet its radiance burned with pure malice, its arms bursting forth its chaotic dance. Within the flames, a pair of white, pupiless pools of fire burned even hotter, staring back at Cammy in anger, searing her to the soul. The blonde gasped, or wanted to, yet couldn't let out a single breath… for his hand quickly wrapped his fingers around her throat, and lifted her off her feet. She struggled feebly under his strength, yet she couldn't breathe as the world began to fade around her.

Finally, oblivion awaited…


	3. Round 3

**Street Fighter: Lost Shadow**

_Round 3_

He had no idea how long he was down there. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, none of that seemed to matter. What did matter, on the other hand, was that Avery was still alive. A bit beaten and bruised, perhaps, but still alive. That was an encouraging thought. With that out of the way, he turned his mind towards his next issue: getting rid of those rocks pinning him to the cold metallic ground.

"Stupid… piece of…" he grunted, tugging himself underneath. He leaned his head down and closed his eyes.

He did have some good news. Uncomfortable as his position might be, nothing seemed to be broken, his legs in particular in spite of the gruesome appearance of his current predicament. The mess of earth, stone, and metal managed to only pin his lower half from the chest down, meaning his arms were free. Wiggling his fingers, he still had feeling in his hands, another encouraging sign. If only he wasn't pinned in such an awkward position…

"Ugh… stupid… heavy… argh… fat… son of a… ugh!"

The rubble did not budge.

_This will take a while_, he thought. Fumbling his hands over the rubble, the mammoth giant began digging out the smaller pieces of dirt off the mound on his body in what he perceived to be a time-consuming effort to lighten the load. He had to count his blessings. When the earth gave way, somehow through some miracle, a ledge of sorts broke his fall, snatching him from the abyss despite the whole world raining from above. The ledge unfortunately gave way, and he found himself falling once again through the dark maw of the abyss once more… then once again, his fall was broken, though instead of a wide rocky ledge, it was several narrow wedges of steel he bounced off of. His tumble was followed by a wall, which he collided hard on his shoulder, before careening off another metallic wedge and into a net of twisted cables. Few moments later, more of the world rained down, which inevitably lead to the cables snapping under the weight, and therefore end up somewhere deep in the bowels of this secret facility.

Thus his current predicament…

Beating against the mound of earth and rubble with his fists, the giant's mind drifted towards his commanding officer, mainly her whereabouts in this godforsaken place. This wasn't simply another mission against an evil philanthropist or a mad terrorist with a bomb; this was a personal vendetta that resulted in the Earth swallowing them whole while spitting purple fire into the air. And he bore witness to Cammy falling into empty space while he was busy being bounced around like a tennis ball, practically having the whole facility break his fall without breaking him in the process. For once, he had a cause for concern…

Avery paused for a moment to catch his breath and looked at the rubble on his chest. One small dent… The scarred man dropped his head back and uttered some choice profanities under his breath.

_This sucks…_

Rubbing the dirt from his face (a lot of good that did), he placed his right hand onto a large stone lodged to the left of said dent he made and gave it a push. His right hand slipped over the piece of rock the first time. Inhaling deeply, and nearly gagging from the dust, he settled his hand back on the stone and pushed again. His arm strained under the weight, yet the stone didn't budge an inch. Placing both hands onto the stone, he gave it another push. Veins bulged from his forehead as he strained against the stone, keeping a very firm grip on the rock with all the strength he could muster. The rock started to budge, which motivated the giant to continue his efforts with added vigor. A couple more inches, and the stone would soon be dislodged from its entrapment…

_Crk… crk… crack…_

The stone suddenly flew and tumbled off the mound. With it, many rocks and dirt piled up in its place, putting the mammoth man back to where he had started.

Avery cried out many choice expletives. "Damn it all!" he pounded his fist against the ground.

Grabbing a fistful of dirt, he began the process of digging himself out once more. As he vented out his frustrations on the giant mound, his mind started to wander back to Cammy again. He remembered watching his commander fall into the hell below and, as far as he could tell, get swallowed up by one of the spewing columns. Despite what his eyes saw, he didn't think the petite little woman was dead. In fact, he _knew_ she wasn't dead, and he wasn't being delusional about it either. Or perhaps he was being delusional, he just didn't know it. She was alive somewhere in this doomed facility, and very likely she would be trying to find that 'monster' as she so eloquently put it on her own while searching for her partner. And if she did manage to find Avery, especially stuck in this embarrassing position, she would probably poke fun of him and chew him up for following her into such a dangerous place… or worse.

The giant swallowed hard at the thought.

With renewed vigor, he began pawing at the mound at an accelerated rate. Cammy was alive and well, that he felt certain. If nothing else, the idea of the Killer Bee being alive and well was much easier to digest than the thought of her being killed by that 'thing' they were chasing after. Plus, as much as he was pained to admit it, he would rather be disciplined by the blonde again in the middle of the training room than ripped to shreds by that… 'thing'. _Yes… the commander is definitely still alive…_ With that extra resolve, he continued to push against the mound, digging against the rubble in hopes of freeing himself before either Cammy or that 'monster' find him…

* * *

><p>"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"<p>

The purple effigy dug his fingers into Cammy's scalp, the intense heat from his fingertips burning into her skull. The blonde's scream had died down, yet the look of fear in her eyes was still there. The creature leaned closer to her face until both were at eye level with each other.

_No… more…_ Cammy thought, much too weak to breathe a single word from her dried and cracked lips.

As if he read her thoughts, the demon released his searing hold and dropped her unceremoniously to the ground. Cammy collapsed on her stomach, gasping for breath. It had been years since she felt psycho power surge through her. Evil, malevolent, it was the most intense pain she had ever felt in her entire life. Her body may not have felt it for years, but it certainly had not forgotten; it hurt back then, it still hurt now. The wielder chose to clothe himself within the blazing hot aura of this terrible brilliance, but Cammy still recognized the monster underneath. The silhouette was recognizable, six feet in height, shoulders wide of girth, physique chiseled and muscular, the face itself was blurred underneath the purple flames as much as the rest of the body, but the eyes were unmistakable. They were the kind of eyes that sent chills down the spines of even the bravest of men. There was a time she served as a puppet to this beast, a man she couldn't even call human, whose power was surpassed by his lust for more. He was a cruel man to say the least, and through his manipulations, the blonde did his bidding without question or remorse. That was perhaps her biggest regret… to be used by that demon as one of his pawns… no, his _dolls_.

And yet somehow, it felt worse now than it did before. As one of Shadaloo's dolls, she had no will of her own, then suddenly, something changed in her. She recalled those first moments of self-awareness, and the confusion that went with it. It seemed insignificant in the beginning, but little by little, that awareness grew and blossomed. Now, free from the bondage of his control, having a will of her own, and a new family in the form of the SIS, she exerted that newfound freedom and distanced herself from the mindless slave that was Shadaloo's Killer Bee, and was reborn as the new Killer Bee under the wings of Delta Red. She had fought against her former master, and after a long, hard struggle, she had eventually triumphed. She found freedom, she found happiness…

And here she was, sniveling in the monster's proverbial hand like a broken toy, unable to look straight in the eye. Those white, pupiless eyes… She felt weak and pathetic under that gaze. She wanted to look away, yet those eyes… soulless eyes… burned through her flesh, deep into her heart, baring her soul for the monster to see. All she felt at that moment was pure shame, and she began loathing herself as much as the creature before her. She was better than that, she told herself. This terrible power which she had fought against on numerous occasions, it was no different now as it was then. Why was she like this?

"Wha… what do you… wan…" Cammy murmured.

The effigy straightened himself, watching his prey with fiery balled fists. He tilted his head to the side, as though pondering the very words from her mouth. The flames continued to burn around his rather large silhouette, but the creature remained silent.

Cammy felt tears well up in her eyes, though she dared not let them fall. "Answer me, damn it…" she choked in the most defiant voice she could muster. He was not going to have his way, she told herself.

In an instant, the burning creature snatched the blonde by the collar of her shirt and lifted her into the air. Cammy's feet dangled lifelessly, the blonde paralyzed in his grip. _Move…_ she thought to herself. _Move!_ The woman wouldn't put up a fight, _couldn't_ put up a fight… all she could do was dangle in his grip like some plaything, feeling all the more guilty of herself. _Move!_ Her eyes began to water again, and once more she willed herself not to let the tears flow.

Meanwhile, the monster could have had his way at any given moment, and yet the demon looked perturbed with his catch. In fact, the effigy had no idea what he wanted from her… or why he even captured her in the first place. Why was she so different, he would think to himself. This small, frail, weak little thing… she was no different from the others whom he had killed before, all of them weak, all of them insignificant. They had prodded him, hurt him, tormented him every waking moment, and when he was freed from his cage, he hunted them down and killed them one by one. This woman came to hurt him, just like everyone else in this godforsaken place, and now she is here trembling before his terrible power. It would so easy to kill her… or torture her first, then kill her, it did not matter. It would be so easy… and yet he hesitated. He had many opportunities to do so: he had her by the throat and could have snapped her neck or choke the life out of her. When she awoke, when she attacked him out of fright, he easily fended off her feeble resistance and beaten her. When he held her again by the skull, he could have seared her mind, break her even further before ending her miserable existence. He could have ended the woman's life then, he most certainly could end it now… but should he do so, he would feel a sense of remorse unlike no other.

The fire in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly as he looked at the blonde with confusion. _What does this woman mean to me?_

The Englishwoman interrupted his thoughts with a hard kick to the midsection. The effigy stumbled back, releasing his hold on the blonde. Cammy fell and landed clumsily to the ground, her face hitting the dirt with a resounding thump. The tears finally flowed, partially from the pain, partially from her welled up emotions, though the dirt masked much of the wetness in a dried layer of crust. She crawled along her elbows all the while willing herself back on her feet.

"Ack!" she cried out, as she felt herself flung against the cold, hard wall.

The purple effigy burned bright, his hatred seething from his eyes anew.

_Now she dies!_

Fingers twitching, the fiery demon took a menacing step towards Cammy. The creature growled at the blonde like a rabid animal, taking another step while the agent remained dazed and unmoving. Perspiration dripped from Cammy's forehead, her eyes trembling with fear, yet her body remained frozen with her back against thick steel. Though intimidating in his stance, the creature was being cautious in his approach. The demon took a third step, then a fourth, then a fifth…

_Move… move… move…_

…then a sixth, then a seventh…

_Damn it, move you stupid legs!_

Standing a mere three feet away, the demon reared his right fist, purple flames of terrible psycho energy bursting forth, and lunged at the helpless woman…

* * *

><p>"Piece of… ugh… crap…"<p>

Avery continued digging away at the dirt, managing to successfully clear away the rubble pinning his stomach. If he weren't in such a hurry, he probably would have considered it an accomplishment… or not. At the very least, he would have marveled at the fact that the pieces of earth and metal merely pinned him as opposed to crush him. As durable as his physique was, he still had the world holding him down. Instead, he continued to grapple with the earth, spitting out the most foul words his mind could come up with for every piece of rock, steel, concrete, and dirt he got his hands on.

"Son of a – " he didn't bother to finish his sentence as he slumped back for a breather. He rubbed his eyes with a muscular forearm. His throat felt dry and his lower half felt numb.

_Crrk… crrkle…_

Startled, the giant quickly removed his forearm from his face and looked. His posture didn't allow him to look very far save for up and to the sides. The debris still covered his waist, preventing him from sitting up, so as far as looking to the rear was concerned, the most he could do was crane his neck as far back as possible. In spite of his lack of visibility to the back, he concluded with utmost confidence that what he heard was nothing more than a couple of stones tumbling somewhere nearby. Given the catastrophic appearance of the facility, and the fact his nose told him the place smelled like a… smoked… barnyard… to put it as politely as possible without resorting to another expletive, it was simply bits of debris falling from the surface above. Other than the awful stench, there was nothing more for him to worry about save for digging himself out of this mess.

_Crrk… crrk… crackle… crack…_

The giant reaper craned his neck as far back as possible, straining his ears at the crackling sound.

_CRUNCH! CRASH! CRACKLE!_

"You have got to be kidding me," Avery groaned, the sounds of crashing debris was followed by the crackle of electricity… and servos.

Pinned a fair distance away, a heavily damaged droid began pounding away at the steel pinning its legs down. The machine pushed against the steel girders, yanking violently at its legs to the point of tearing out its own limbs. Its eyes glowed blood red, its face expressionless yet furious at the same time. The scarred man desperately ripped away at the debris, muttering curses under his breath. The dirt loosened as Avery pushed against the mound in his own attempt to yank himself free.

_Come on, come on, come on!_

With a loud shriek, the droid pulled itself free, though not without losing its legs in the process. Seething, the machine pulled itself along the musty ground with its hands, its eyes blazing with mechanical rage at its prey. The droid's machineguns were rendered useless during the fall, that much Avery was also certain; otherwise he would be a giant bullet-ridden corpse by now. Still, he found the sounds of scraping from the determined machine unnerving, the 'screeching' it made sending more chills down his spine.

"Move… you stupid…"

His words were interrupted by a crashing sound to his left. Another droid tumbled to the ground, missing an arm, and with right leg severed up to its knee. Then came a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh... by the eighth, he had lost count. All equally damaged as the first, yet all of them glaring at the scarred beast with crimson fury in their eyes, limping, twitching, squealing for blood.

"As if it wasn't difficult enough before…" he grumbled to the air.

* * *

><p>Cammy felt the heat of the monster's fist mere inches away from her cheek, certain of her end. Somehow, she was still alive.<p>

"What are you waiting for?" she rasped breathlessly. The Englishwoman dared to open her eye, even so much as make a tentative peek towards her captor. The flame from his fist almost blinded her, causing her to flinch.

The demon remained as he was, still as a statue with arm fully extended and fist clenched tightly next to her face. Tendrils of fire danced on his knuckles, angrily lashing out towards the agent in its bright purple incandescence. The pools of hellish fire in his eyes waved with equal indignation. The chaotic flames surrounding his body erupted in madness, crying out for blood.

He could not budge.

Cammy felt sweat trickling from her brow, her scalp itching and soiled with dirt. She didn't need to look in the mirror to know that her blonde mane was now a tangled mess. She could only imagine that she looked just as haggard as she felt. She felt as feeble as a child before this monster, her mind a fog, yet here he was standing before her open and vulnerable. Weak as she may feel, Cammy was still able and breathing, and this was yet another opening for her to do… something, _anything_. Hit him, or just run and hide, it did not matter, just do anything…

She could not budge.

_Damn you…_ she thought.

"Damn… you…" the monster uttered the words so suddenly she nearly jumped out of her skin.

The blonde let out a gasp, her knees weak and wobbly, though she still remained standing.

"Damn… you…" the creature muttered again, his arm now trembling as violently as the flames around his body.

Cammy blinked as his fist wavered precariously close to her cheek. It only dawned on her now that this was the first time the creature had spoken. The voice was deep and very familiar even after many years… but something was different. Shifting herself ever so slightly, she turned her head to the demon and dared to look past his extended arm to his eyes. The flames still seeped from his pupiless eyes, though now she realized they were no longer burning with malevolence… or perhaps they never were. What she saw instead was utter confusion. At that moment, she felt her fear start to vanish. Her legs no longer felt wobbly as strength returned to her limbs. Not too long ago, Cammy stood before him a whimpering babe, but now, whatever influence that had gripped her, whatever will he had exerted, all of it melted away. It felt strange that she should tremble before this monster… no, not a monster, this… man. This powerful, yet confused man stumbled back, nearly falling backwards as Cammy straightened herself.

"Who… are… you…" the man rasped, pointing accusingly at the blonde with a trembling finger.

Cammy blinked again. She pushed herself gently off the wall and took a cautious step towards him. The flames surrounding the effigy flickered as he trembled before the agent. Was it fear he felt? No… it was more than fear…

"Who… are… you…" he repeated.

"Who am…" Cammy replied, finding the words stuck in her throat. "I… was your soldier… your slave…" she glowered with contempt. After all he did to her, after all that she been through, for a moment she felt offended that this trembling man didn't even remember her. The fear in her heart melted away. In its place, a wellspring of anger gradually building up within her very being, threatening to explode. This sudden surge of emotion frightened her even more so than the panic she felt mere moments ago, but just as before it took all of her will to keep it barely contained.

"Slave?" The man lowered his shaken arm, looking at her abashed.

_This was the man that made my knees quake? _Cammy took another step towards him, her newfound rage boiling over. "You don't know? You don't remember the hell you once put me through?" Seething through clenched teeth, she continued, "I was your puppet once… a doll with no will of my own before good people took me in and gave me my own voice. I was your clone… a mere shell for you to house your power should ever your old body expire. Until such a time, however, you had other uses for me. I had taken many lives, killed soldier and innocent alike, and many more atrocities which I can't even bring myself to name." The flames surrounding the effigy lashed out, some to the air, some coming dangerously close to hitting the blonde, but she ignored them. She felt too sick and repulsed to even care. Her blue eyes were fiery from a mixture of pent up emotions, confusion, sadness, regret, but mostly anger. Head throbbing, she clutched her head tightly with one hand, covering one of her eyes as she spoke, "You gave me the code name, Killer Bee. I am Cammy White. And you… don't… _remember_?"

The man stood his ground silent. He stared at his hands as he absorbed her words. "Cam… my…" he said.

The Englishwoman let out a guttural growl. "Look at me, Vega!" she hollered.

The man snapped his neck back as though lashed across the face, taken aback by that very name.

"Ve… ga…" he mumbled, speaking the name as though speaking a foreign word. "Ve… ga… Ve-ga… Vega… Vega…"

Cammy's anger suddenly subsided, the blonde still surprised at her outburst. Her hand fell from her face to her chest, digging her nails almost to the point of breaking her skin while gasping for breath. _What… what just came over me?_

* * *

><p>Avery managed to grab the legless droid by its head and bashed it hard against the floor. "Just because I'm trapped doesn't mean I'm helpless," the giant declared with a snarl. With added exclamation, he grinded the head further until shattered under the pressure of his grip.<p>

A second droid leapt to Avery's spot and delivered a vicious kick to the head. The giant grunted, his head ringing from the blow, but managed to raise his hands to his face to block the android's foot and push it away. Though the scarred agent didn't put much force to his push, the droid spun clumsily on its heel and crashed, too damaged to keep itself balanced for long. A third android grabbed Avery by his left wrist and, with a quick jerk, pinned his forearm to the ground. Avery snatched the droid's fingers and pried them off his arm. With his left arm free, he gave the robot two quick punches to the face, knocking it on its back. A fourth one punched the giant square in the face. The blow, though solid, demolished the already damaged hand into pieces. Avery took advantage of the opening, pulling the drone by the wrecked forearm and threw it towards the mound, breaking its neck with a sickening crunch.

"You want more of this? Huh! Come get it!"

Just as he said those words, two droids dropped onto the burly agent, one grabbing him by the arm, the other punching the giant's head. In a daze, Avery attempted to fend himself from the onslaught, but another droid joined the attack, holding him by the other arm. The agent struggled valiantly, but soon the numbers overwhelmed him. The remaining droids formed a mob around him, beating him down mercilessly. Blood started trickling from the giant's face, his consciousness slipping to nothingness.

* * *

><p>"Vega… Vega… Vega… Vega…Vega…" the man droned, rocking his head back and forth while repeating the name over and over. Dumbfounded, Cammy could only stand and watch while the man hunched down with both hands clutching his head. "Vega… Vega… Vega…"<p>

Suddenly, the room began to shake. Heavy stones and debris rolled along the ground. Massive cables swung violently from their perch, threatening to snap off. Cammy looked over at the distressed man, and watched in dismay at the growing aura emitting from his body. Snakes of purple lightning wrapped their tendrils around the man, slithering more violently with each passing moment.

"Vega… Vega… Vega… Vega…"

The lithe blonde inched back away from the man, though realized no cover would be enough to avoid what was about to happen…

"Vega… Vega… Vega…Vega… VEGA!"

The man bellowed out a hideous roar to the air, and with it, columns of psycho power shot to the sky. The shockwave from the eruption knocked Cammy back, rolling and tumbling along the ground. Only a steel beam stopped her from skidding any further, though she crashed into it with such force that the pain she felt on her back overshadowed the pain she felt from the scrapes along her arms and knees.

"RAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHH!"

* * *

><p>"Wh-what the hell…" Avery managed to say.<p>

The droids stopped their attack long enough to notice the room start to shake. They looked at each other with mechanical confusion. Then they looked at the ground, at the fissures forming below their feet. It was the last thing they did before the ground swallowed them whole.

"Huh… yeah… haha… thassit… run away… run away…" the scarred agent sputtered, still unaware of his surroundings.

_THOOM!_

"Holy – " the last word cut off as a massive beam of purple brilliance lanced through the mound he was pinned under, obliterating it completely. The giant felt himself upended by the force, smacking him against a pillar of steel before sliding through the gaping hole, into the darkness.

* * *

><p>For Cammy, time felt like it had slowed down, though mere moments had passed. Pain throbbed throughout her body, though the worst was in her head. She winced as she gently touched her forehead. A small trickle of dark crimson stained her fingertip.<p>

"Where… the bloody hell…"

She stopped mid sentence as she heard a faint noise. Faint, since her head was still ringing from the tumble. Sparkles of light flashed before her eyes, prompting the blonde to rub them with her soiled hands. _Damn lights…_ she thought.

_CRRSH! CRASH!_

Pressing her scratched palms against the ground, she gradually picked herself off her feet and warily ambled over to the sound. More blood dripped from her forehead down her cheek, gathering down her chin, and falling to the ground. The noise became less faint as her hearing also began to recover. Pain receptors screamed with each step, both from her head and her back, causing the woman to double over momentarily.

_CRACK! CRUNCH! WHOOSH! CLANG!_

The haze drifted away as her vision also recovered. What were mere flecks of light became a torrent of electricity and flames. By then, the fog in her mind also lifted, and then she realized she was watching someone or something fighting…

_WHOOSH!_

She lifted her arm to her face as a bright purple ball of energy shot passed her. Quickly, she squared her body (painfully) defensively, raising her leaden arms to her face. Her heart beat fast, adrenaline starting to pump through her veins, and yet nothing attacked her. What she did see, however, was a silhouette enveloped in purple light beating down a man… at least that's what it looked like… beating it down with his fists.

Another man… no, not quite a man, she realized... an android made a futile attack at the glowing silhouette, only to be caught in midair. The drone shook violently, its head crushed by a powerful, flaming hand. A second fist punctured into the droid's midsection, shooting straight through its back before injecting it with its terrible power.

_BOOM!_

The droid exploded, its metallic remains raining down all over the burning effigy. Cammy let out a gasp, recognizing the attack she had just witnessed. "Psycho Punisher," she murmured the name under her breath.

Noticing the blonde for the first time, the effigy turned slowly to the agent, acknowledging her presence. Cammy felt her body tense, her arms still raised in a defensive posture. In a blink of an eye, the effigy threw out his right hand, releasing a bolt of dark energy to her direction. The agent felt too weary to react, save for a yelp escaping her crackled lips. However, the ball of psycho power sailed passed her head and exploded from behind. Quietly, Cammy turned around, her eyes widened at the sight of an android standing behind her, its arm raised with machinegun pointing at her back. Hit by the ball of psycho energy, the drone fell on its back, shuddering and convulsing along the ground before it shut down permanently.

The threat over, the effigy collapsed on his knees, the purple flames surrounding his body melting away. Underneath was, as she had thought, a man. A weakened, trembling man, his cover of malevolent power replaced with a shadow, hiding his features. Numb, the agent took a few cautionary steps forward, wanting to take a better look at the kneeling man.

"Vega…" she whispered the name.

The man stopped trembling. Grunting quietly, he leaned forward to a small, flickering light, and looked up at the woman. Cammy let out a startled gasp.

"You're not Vega," she said.


	4. Round 4

**Street Fighter: Lost Shadow**

_Round 4_

"How… am I _not_ dead?" Avery wondered aloud.

That was the first thought that came to mind when he regained consciousness. Given the number the droids did to his face, turning the world into one big massive blur, he found it astonishing that he could even remember his name, let alone remember where he was. Then again, from what he recalled, it was also a miracle that he was still in one piece and not a seven foot tall, three hundred pound stain. Whether it was karma or pure luck, something managed to break his fall just enough to remain intact… relatively speaking. Avery grew rather sick of those long drops…

Rubbing his massive hand over his forehead, he felt something wet and sticky on his fingers. "Huh… great…" he mumbled, lazily wiping off the blood in his hands.

He turned his head upward and flinched. It hurt just to blink. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pounding to subside and hung his head back… and felt his stomach leave his throat as he felt himself topple and fall before coming to a sudden halt. Four lengths of cables managed to entangle themselves around his body, barely managing to hold his weight as they slackened, but hold they did; his already battered head was a mere inch away from hitting solid titanium.

"OK, I'm awake now," the stunned giant gasped, his headache and every other manner of pain already forgotten. At that point, after yet another near death experience, he decided he loved cables as much as he hated long drops…

Hanging upside down, he shut his eyes and waited until his heart settled. In an odd way, he found it rather relaxing… or perhaps his beaten body was trying to tell him something, namely rest. Once the novelty of 'hanging around' wore itself, slowly, he lifted his body until he was upright. He then raised his right arm and wrapped his fingers around one of the cables. Testing his strength, he gave the cable a light tug, then gave it a sudden yank. The cable snapped, and as he had expected, so did the rest. As the distance was rather short, he landed on his back with no additional injuries save for a dull ache on his shoulder. Disengaging himself from the cables, he gradually pushed himself back to his feet, and nearly stumbled back to the ground.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… easy there…"

Regaining his equilibrium, he stood and looked at his surroundings. The area he was in looked no different from the area he fell from; a complete wreck. Dangling cables and exposed circuitry protruded from dimly lit walls, crackling with current. Earth and twisted metal mixed together, damaging some consoles while burying other parts of the expanse. Fissures opened from the walls to the ground, making some areas precarious to walk on. Dust kicked up every time he made a move. The scarred reaper did consider himself fortunate in one respect; at least he was no longer pinned down.

_Fzzt… whirr… Kzzxt…_

Looking down on his feet, the mangled remains of a droid looked up at the titan, its eyes still glowing with hostility. The moment his eyes locked onto the droid's, Avery's expression hardened. The hostility in the machine's eyes wavered, as if it was suddenly intimidated by his presence. Afterwards, the last thing the robot saw was the sole of the giant's left boot before its head got crushed underneath.

* * *

><p>Cammy found it difficult to look at him.<p>

He was not Vega, that much she knew for certain. Physically, their appearances were very similar. Aside from the broad shoulders and heavy musculature, he also possessed the same skin complexion as Vega, the same hair color as Vega, the same square jaw line underlining his face, the same narrow eyes. The movement of his arms, the heavy steps of his legs as he walked, even those subtleties were very much alike. Yet there were also clear differences between the two. For one, this man was visibly younger in appearance than Vega, possessing none of the wizened, hard features on his face. He looked more to be in his mid twenties than in his fifties. For another, he lacked the madness that characterized Vega's power hungry nature. What Cammy initially thought was malevolence in those eyes, it was simply the flames of his psycho power masking his true nature underneath. With the flames removed, what she saw was still madness, but of the unhinged kind, along with a mixture of confusion, fear, sadness, self-loathing… in other words, he was an utter wreck.

That, and his irises were brown.

He was not Vega, she knew with absolute clarity. He was a clone, just like herself, and yet she still found it difficult to look at him. The thought of being in the same presence as that man sent icicles down her spine. The essence of his psycho power, the very destructive flames that her former master had once wielded, had once used to _control_ her, those scars still ran very deep. Cammy reminded herself repeatedly he was not the same man but a broken imitation created in his likeness, yet her soul cried otherwise.

And there she was, stuck deep in an underground facility torn up by the seams, separated from her subordinate and partner, and the only possible chance of being reunited and reaching the surface was with the assistance of that very man she wanted to keep a good, healthy distance from. Right now, that very man that she wanted to keep said healthy distance from is currently a shaken wreck huddled up in a small corner of what used to be a med lab. For the moment, he was harmless, seemingly drained from his previous outbursts, and mainly keeping to himself. On the other hand, he was a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment… Who knows…?

Fate was definitely laughing in her face.

"Vega… Vega… Vega…" Rocking on his haunches, he kept repeating the name under his breath over and over, completely oblivious of his surroundings.

Deciding that he was fine by himself, Cammy walked through the remnants of a door, into an operating room. She quickly rummaged through the overturned tables and cabinets, helping herself to their medical supplies, then entered a small office and confiscated a clean shirt. There wasn't much left, she noticed, as most of the items were shattered, burned, or utterly destroyed. She did manage to get her hands on some gauze, bandages, and some stitches. She also found a few small vials of alcohol and ointments to at least clean up her wounds. As far as she was concerned, it was more than enough. Using a fragment of a shattered mirror, she began to inspect her wounds starting with her head. She carefully cleaned off the dirt and blood caked on her forehead with the vials, flinching slightly from the touch, and carefully yet quickly sutured the cut. She was no surgeon, but at least she will heal.

"Vega… Vega… Vega… Vega…"

"What is your name?" she suddenly asked.

Stunned, the man stopped droning to himself and momentarily sat still. Quietly, he craned his head and looked at the agent listlessly. "Antares…" he replied anxiously.

_Named after a star, just like Vega_, she thought. Cammy turned her attention back to the mirror and began addressing the rest of the cuts and scrapes on her body. Washing and dressing her arms and her knees were a simple matter, though she still flinched from the stinging pain while applying the alcohol along the wounds. Her back, on the other hand, was a little more challenging, especially with her arms wound tight to the wrist. She couldn't remember how she got that particular wound, and would not have noticed it had she not tried to lift off her shirt. Her fingers felt stiff as she clumsily applied some of the ointment on a deep gash on her back. As she did, she suddenly felt something cold against her skin, causing her to yelp.

"L-let me help…" Antares said, snatching the bottle from her delicate hand.

"I don't…" she began to protest. By then, it was too late, as Antares gingerly rubbed the medication along the gash. _How the heck did he get here so quickly?_ That was her initial surprise. The next surprise came when she felt something sharp poking into her back. Cammy bit her lip almost to the point of drawing blood as she soon realized what he was doing.

"Sorry…" he apologized, and worked quickly to suture up the cut.

Cammy could only sit there frozen stiff as the clone continued his work. Having no choice on the matter, the blonde allowed him to work, keeping herself as still as possible. She felt goose bumps along her skin, partially from the chill, partially from his touch, but mostly from his presence.

"Finished," he muttered, snapping the thread and putting the needle down.

Still stunned, Cammy turned her back to the broken mirror shard and craned her head to inspect the work. Antares himself was no surgeon as far as she knew, but his stitches seemed cleaner than her own. She wanted to ask where he had learned to do such a thing given he was supposedly a lab rat for much of his existence, but a part of her was too upset to ask, and to disturbed to bother. With a quiet sigh, she discarded her old, worn out top for a new, cleaner dress shirt. Antares had the decency to turn as she changed.

"Thank you," she said, buttoning the top.

The clone mumbled incoherently and nodded in acknowledgment.

"One more thing."

Antares slowly turned and met his dark eyes with Cammy's own pair of icy blue daggers.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again," Cammy seethed.

* * *

><p>Avery had no idea how long he had been walking through this maze. What he did know was that his throat was parched, and his stomach felt as though it had eaten itself from the inside out. In other words, <em>too<em> long.

_This is getting nowhere_, he thought.

Every area in this rundown facility looked the same, complete with crumpled steel, tangled wires, and all manner of dirt upon rock upon dirt… he was sick of turning over rocks only to walk around in circles. When he did find something different, such as a room, they were, at best, a wreck.

At worst, absolutely nothing, which Avery nearly discovered the hard way by slipping and hanging over the ledge. Scrambling quickly, he pulled himself up from the edge and collapsed by the door way, staring down into the gaping nothingness. Afterwards, the giant decided a break was in order.

Avery exhaled deeply as he leaned against the wall. So far, since his last beating, he hasn't encountered anything hostile. That was perhaps the one good thing happening thus far in this ordeal. He hoped that the lack of anything spitting fire or shooting bullets would grant him a brief little reprieve, at least until he was ready to continue. Still, given his luck, the giant remained alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"I wish I didn't lose my pack," he grumbled. Though Cammy and himself used up their ammunition on the surface, the supplies he had would have been helpful in his current predicament. First aid, binoculars, night vision goggles, knife… At the very least, he would have had his rations with him to munch on, disgusting as they were. No use complaining about it. All he could do is carry on… right after he relaxed a little…

_THUNK!_

The scarred giant immediately sprang to his feet. A piece of debris had fallen only a few feet from his position along his path. With nothingness on one end, the giant had nowhere else to go but towards the piece of concrete. Cautiously, he stepped away from the missing room towards the slab, hands held up in a defensive posture. He could hear the sounds of dirt grinding underneath the soles of his boots as he crept. Avery hoped it was simply a piece of the ceiling falling apart and not another drone digging out of the walls to attack him. Still, he prepared for the worst…

_Crackle, crrk, thump! CRASH!_

Avery lifted his hands to shelter his face from the dust. As the cloud settled, he carefully moved his hands away from his face, peering between his fingers. The ceiling had indeed fallen apart, and brought the adjacent wall down with it. Squinting at the gaping hole at the top, he found mostly crackles and sparks of electricity from a few loose wires, nothing more. Approaching the newly formed hole on the wall, he finally found a room that looked different from the rest of his surroundings, a dim bluish glow and the hum of a generator powering it. Hoping for once to be something useful, he began prying against the loosened pieces of metal and concrete, widening the hole until he could fit his body through. He peered inside and quickly discovered the source of the glow.

A giant terminal, likely a security or observations room. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but it was a start. With any luck, some of the cameras within the facility would also work, allowing him to at least search for his commander, and hopefully a way out.

Plodding through the makeshift hole, he sauntered over to the terminal, tapped his large fingers across the keys, and watched the monitors flicker to life. The first image was nothing more than static, as was the second, the third, and fourth. As he had expected, much of the security cameras in the facility were either damaged or destroyed by whoever caused this catastrophe, rendering him blind to most of the compound. When he finally did receive a feed, much of the images were either too dark, or show mostly ruin. Rubbing his weary eyes, he was about to continue his search when he caught a slight reflection off the metallic surface of the terminal. Avery slumped his shoulders and let out a sigh.

"I knew this was too good to last," he said. Spinning around, he swung out his left arm for a backhand, and not surprisingly, said backhand was stopped by a gauntleted left fist. What he didn't expect was the source of the left fist; a slender looking woman clad in a dark, skin tight leotard covering her body save for her slim, yet highly toned legs. Her long brown mane of hair was tied to the back of her head in a ponytail. Her face was concealed underneath a shiny silver mask with an otherwise expressionless face etched and colored onto its surface. Completing the rest of her attire were a pair of pauldrons on the shoulders, and greaves attached to her boots. In spite of his situation, the giant found himself admiring the petite hostile before him. "Then again, maybe this won't be so bad," Avery added with a leer.

The woman quickly responded with a snap of her left leg aimed at the giant's midsection. Stunned at the sheer speed of the attack, Avery managed to lower his arm and block the move with his forearm. He quickly countered with a solid strike with his right intended to hit the masked woman in the upper torso. However, the woman swayed her head to the side and, stepping forward, delivered a quick punch to the chest, and immediately followed up with a double handed clout. Avery found himself too amazed at the sheer strength of the blow to realize he was careening towards the terminal.

_CRASH!_

By the time he came to his senses, the terminal was smashed from impact under his weight. That momentarily made the scarred reaper forget about the shapely curves of his opponent and focus his attention on how to deal with his current bout of rage.

"Damn you, girl, I was still using that thing!" he glowered. Deciding that the best way to deal with his anger issues is through his fists, Avery quickly got back to his feet and charged into his opponent. The masked woman, unable to react to the giant's sudden burst of speed, took the full brunt of the charge, her body sent flying across the room. The frail wall behind her instantly exploded from impact, sending her out of the room into an open space. Avery smashed his way to the outside and glared at the stunned woman on the ground.

"Ugh…" the woman groaned, shaking the cobwebs from her head.

With a loud roar, Avery leapt into the air and, with a balled right fist, crashed feet first to the ground with a solid punch to the woman's chest… or would have had she not flipped away in the last moment. The ground exploded under the force of his punch, creating a crater around his fist.

"I guess you're not as completely dumb as you look," the woman intoned.

Avery shrugged. "Um… thanks?"

With renewed vigor, the two combatants attacked. Avery was still stunned at the sheer strength the woman possessed in that tiny body of hers as he blocked and parried her flurry of punches and kicks. Stunned, though not ill-prepared as he quickly countered with quick lefts and rights of his own.

"Tch!" the woman grunted. Digging her heel to the ground, she lifted herself to the air with her left foot and lunged at the man with her right knee intended for the giant's chin.

Reflexively, Avery managed to block the knee strike with the palm of his left hand, the force of the attack pushing him back. When the masked woman landed, he seized the opportunity and came at her with a mighty lariat.

Not to be outdone, the masked woman bent her head backwards just enough for Avery's forearm to graze her mask, and nothing more. Snapping her head upright while spinning on her feet to face her opponent's back, she 'slid' towards the giant and drove her right foot to the back of the man's left shoulder.

The move was intended for his spine, but fortunately for Avery his quickness in spite of his seven foot bulk allowed him to evade enough of the attack to avoid receiving the brunt of it. The worst he felt was a sting on his back. Ignoring the pain, he quickly returned the favor with a thrust of his left leg to her abdomen, then a heel kick with his right foot.

His opponent managed to back away from the first kick, but was unable to avoid the second, receiving the blow on the side of her head. The impact knocked sent her spiraling awkwardly to the ground, landing on her side. She immediately rolled away and hopped back to her feet.

The woman was definitely good, no doubt about it, but after all the beat downs he received from Cammy, this exchange wasn't quite as bad. At the very least, she provided enough of a challenge to keep him on his toes, but not so much that he'd be put into a coma. Still close, but still not as bad…

That was the moment the woman decided to spring her surprise as her right fist became engulfed in purple flame. With one strike, Avery found himself pushed back by the sheer force of the punch.

"What the hell was that!" he gasped.

Collecting her power into her right hand, she squared her body to her massive opponent and, with left hand grasping her right wrist, wound both arms back.

"Psycho Crusher!"

* * *

><p>"Ugh!" Antares stumbled with one hand covering the lower half of his face in a gagging gesture.<p>

Ignoring her discomfort of the man, Cammy approached Antares cautiously. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The clone was oblivious to the blonde's words as a wave of sickness gradually clouded his mind. He felt a strong burning sensation emit from his chest and spread throughout his body. "No… no, no, no, no, no…" he shook his head in anguish. A small flicker of flame erupted from his body, momentarily enveloping him in its burning aura, then disappeared in an instant.

"No, no, no, fight, damn you, fight it!" Cammy cried out.

Though he didn't hear Cammy's plea, Antares indeed struggled valiantly against his overwhelming power, putting all his strength and will to keep it from spilling out of control. Still, Cammy didn't like his chances, and desperately began to think of ways to stop him.

_Sedate him, perhaps_, she thought. The agent looked around the room and the mess that was left behind. All the equipment she could find were destroyed, even the syringes. _But _w_ith what!_

Another flicker of psycho power erupted and disappeared just as quickly as before. Then came another flicker, and another, and another…

"There is the old fashioned way…" she thought, approaching Antares carefully.

Another flicker of psycho power erupted, but this one remained longer than the last before disappearing.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, raising her right fist. The punch, however, never landed as a tendril of fire lashed out, throwing her off her feet. Cammy landed on her back and slid across the ground, rubbing against the stitches on her back. The blonde cried out as pain shot through her back.

"Ugh…" Antares looked at Cammy, who managed to pull herself together and get back on her feet. The flickers suddenly became frequent as dark energies swirled around his body, 'warping' his shape. Though he didn't say anything, the franticness in his eyes told Cammy everything: _Run!_

_I have a bad feeling about this…_ Cammy thought, steeling herself physically and mentally.

* * *

><p>For a moment, Avery was too stunned to move, or even feel any pain even as purple flames continued to burn against his flesh. The moment the woman <em>flew<em> at him like a spinning missile completely covered in fire, the giant was certain he saw his life flash before him followed by a light at the end of a tunnel. It took several moments to realize that wasn't the case, that he was very much still alive (to which he would ask once again, "How am I not dead?")… and he was on fire.

Cursing to himself, he quickly patted away the flames with his large hands, ignoring the pain as he did.

"Alright… you are definitely much better than I thought to still be awake after that…"

The scarred man froze and quickly spun to the source of the voice.

_CRACK!_

His face began to burn as a fiery backhand connected to the side of his head. Instincts took over first as he caught himself from falling with a left fist planted firmly to the ground. Then, from the corner of his eye, he quickly lowered his head to avoid a second punch. Afterwards, he raised his arm to parry the third blow, allowing the fist to graze his forearm, and thrust out with an open palm. The hand struck something solid and metallic, pushing the offender away. This gave the mammoth agent the chance to jump back on his feet and hop away.

"Oooooh…" he heard a moan. Slowly, the masked woman dragged herself to one knee, holding her head with one hand. As she did, she felt something peculiar on her mask, a deformity of sorts. Tracing her finger along the damage, she suddenly realized her mask was not just dented, but also cracked. "You will pay for this," she threatened.

Before he could come up with a witty retort, the room began to shake once again.

"An… Antar… res…" he heard the woman speak with a noticeable trace of concern in her voice.

* * *

><p><em>FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!<em>

Cammy raised her arms and looked away from the flash. When she looked back, Antares the man disappeared. In his place stood an effigy of pure destruction shaped in the likeness of the clone.

"Rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!"

Cammy felt the echoes of psychic feedback lash out at her, but this time she was prepared for it. Gritting her teeth, she focused her emotions, keeping them as calm and still as possible while blocking the rush of negative feelings from the now berserk monster. It wasn't easy to say the least; the feedback was so strong that she practically had to put much of her effort into resisting it. Compounding that was the fact that Antares pounced at the agent like a predator hunting his prey.

_Damn… _Cammy thought, sidestepping from the psycho powered monster. Even a simple dodge while maintaining her mental barriers proved to be taxing. Should it come down to a fight, the agent wasn't sure what to do…

_CRACK!_

Cammy felt Antares' fist collide against her right cheek. The agent crumpled from the blow, yet still maintained her mental faculties to keep herself from going insane. For her, that was an achievement unto itself. Now, if she could maintain just enough discipline to block the next attack…

"Raaaaaarrrrrghhh!"

Cammy managed to sway her head just enough to avoid receiving the brunt of the monster's fist. Instead, she felt his burning fingers graze her on the scarred side of her cheek. Antares, filled with berserk rage, swiped at Cammy with his left hand, then his right. Both times, Cammy narrowly escaped, managing to sway her body away from the strikes with little more than a few scratches.

_Must concentrate…_ she told herself, the last attack grazing her leg. _He's too wild… uncontrolled… wait for an opening…_

Spinning on his heel, Antares lashed out with a roundhouse with his right leg. Just the very tip of his toe managed to leave a shallow cut across her abdomen; she couldn't imagine what that kick would do should he land it.

…along with that left cross that managed to singe the side of her neck.

_Hopefully soon…_ she added to her thought.

* * *

><p>"Where are you?" the woman muttered, her eyes shimmering with purple brilliance, paying no mind to her mammoth opposition.<p>

Avery meanwhile stood dumbstruck. On the one hand, his opponent was in a vulnerable position. Moments ago, he was nearly immolated. He would like to end this before such a thing happens again. On the other hand, her eyes were glowing. The last time something was glowing, he was nearly immolated. He would like to keep his distance to prevent such a thing from happening again.

What's more, during much of their exchange, he made numerous strategic observations of his opponent to aid him in his decision.

She has a nice butt.

She also has a nice pair of legs.

Of course, she also happens to be wearing a mask, so she could be real ugly…

…or she could be real hot and she could be wearing that mask to protect her face like that Spanish guy Cammy told him about…

Thus, there was only one conclusion to draw from this experience: he chose to wait and _observe_.

* * *

><p>"Hccckk!"<p>

As if Cammy's prayers were answered, Antares had indeed began to falter; the same emotional feedback that hindered the blonde's movements proved to be a double edged sword as the purple effigy stumbled with both hands grasping his head. It was temporary, she noted, as Antares started to come to. Still, it was time to make the most of this opportunity…

"Spiral Arrow!" she announced, twisting her body like a corkscrew, and drilled both feet into the man's abdomen.

Antares was quickly knocked onto his back from the sudden collision. In spite of his pain, however, he immediately snapped back to his feet, holding one hand over his face. Whether he was managing to bring this psychic backlash under control, or it was simply fading away due to the chaotic nature of his psycho power, Cammy wasn't sure, nor was she interested in waiting to find out. Spinning clockwise, Cammy closed the gap between the two and lashed out with a fierce backhand with her right fist raised high to the head. The punch connected twice in a single revolution, connecting to his right temple. He stumbled hard to his left, yet through sheer resilience managed to maintain his balance. Muttering curses to herself, Cammy leapt to the air and landed a clean hit with her right leg to the head. Landing on the ground, Cammy then followed with a jab of her left fist, followed by a low kick to the shins, then a strong knee to the gut.

"Cannon Spike!" she yelled, planting her hands on the ground, and, extending her leg in the air, hit Antares sharply with a vertical boot to the chin.

The effulgent beast crashed back to earth hard on his back. Moments later, he remained lying on the ground motionless, the fiery aura surrounding his body dwindling. That, she thought, should have ended it…

Antares body began to convulse as flashes of psycho power began to well up from his body. In a bright flash, his body suddenly went aflame again, the purple blaze much brighter and destructive than before. Cammy had to avert her eyes from the flash, her vision barely able to make out his silhouette being lifted back to his feet by his chaotic energies. With a quiet sniff, Cammy squared her body and parted her legs into a fighting posture in preparation for the clone's next move…

She literally did not expect this move as Antares literally vanished before the agent's eyes, then ("What the bloody hell!") suddenly appeared behind her back. Eyes burning with a mixture of hatred and desperation, he struck out his open palm against the woman's stitched back, releasing his terrible power in a single burst. Cammy couldn't even utter a cry as she felt her body flung forward from the explosion. Landing on her hands and knees, she slowly forced herself back on her feet, wincing in pain. As she did, she felt something wet and sticky against her shirt.

_Bloody wonderful,_ she thought, realizing that her stitches had broke.

"Hah… hah… huh… hah…"

Blocking the sharp pain on her back, Cammy turned to face her opponent with arms stretched into her fighting stance. It did not take much for her to realize he was expending far more energy than he possessed. She observed the limp in his movements as he approached her. She listened to his rasping voice as he struggled to breathe. Most telling of all was the erratic motions of the flames around his silhouette, the psycho energies almost as luminescent as a giant star. He may possess Vega's power and appearance, but he still was just a copy… a heavily damaged, flawed copy… and his moves were getting sloppier by the moment. If only she wasn't so badly hurt…

Antares' right hand began to twitch. Cammy watched as his hand _wavered_ before her eyes as small 'globs' of malevolent brilliance gathered into his palm, forming into a dark sphere. The agent had seen this many times in the past. She knew what was about to happen next.

"Ragh!" Antares grunted as he hurled the sphere at Cammy.

Instinctively, Cammy leapt away from the incoming Psycho Shot, pushing through the burning pain on her back. The projectile struck one of the overturned pieces of lab equipment and exploded, sending metallic debris flying all over. Cammy muttered a curse as she rolled away from another Psycho Shot, this one coming utterly close to blasting a hole through her chest. A third Psycho Shot, smaller, yet quicker than the last two, caught her squarely on the left shoulder.

"Ugh!" she grimaced, sprawled over on her side while clutching her injured arm. She managed to drag back on her feet as another Psycho Shot singed a few strands of her tangled hair, then leapt behind a steel wall, the following projectile exploding onto its metallic surface. _This can't go on forever…_ she tried to assure herself. For a moment, she actually believed it to be true.

A pair of feet suddenly came crashing down from above. If not for the sinister irradiance, Cammy would have been on the receiving end of a bone crunching head stomp. Instead, she leapt away yet again from the assault and managed to get a much needed reprieve as Antares fell to one knee upon landing. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as the blonde watched the man wearily get back to his feet. As Antares stood, his body started to convulse as pulses of psycho energy flickered ever so violently. A sudden feeling of dread washed over her as she soon realized the energies were about to erupt.

* * *

><p>"Antares – ahh!"<p>

The room shook violently as a loud explosion rocked the base, creating new fissures in the room they were standing. Both Avery and the masked woman tumbled and fell, as debris rained down from above. Then, just as quickly as it had started, the shaking ended… and the giant found himself in a compromising position with the tiny woman on top of him.

"Uh, ah-heh, um…" Avery stared dumbfounded.

"Oooh…" the woman groaned. The sudden explosion not only managed to throw both fighters onto each other, but also knocked the metal mask of the woman's face. It was an inappropriate time for this, but with her face exposed, Avery could finally conclude whether the brunette was a hottie or a troll beneath that layer of metal…

…and when the dizzily lifted her head up and looked at the agent face to face, the giant found himself, for lack of a better word, _conflicted_ at what he discovered.

The woman's face looked exactly like Cammy.

"Uh… what?" he blinked.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<strong> To the one or two people who read this, I said before that this should be four chapters, right? Well, I lied. Looks like I need at least one more chapter to resolve this thing. Oh well, happy reading.


	5. Round 5

**Street Fighter: Lost Shadow**

_Round 5_

Cammy felt a cold chill against her back. It was a very familiar sensation, though she couldn't quite put a finger to it at first. Letting out a breathless moan, the blonde agent lifted her hand to her head… at least that was what she wanted to do, save for the fact that said hand would not respond. Confused, she turned her head to look at her surroundings… at least that was what she wanted to do, save for the fact that said head also would not respond.

_Where am I?_

The moment she thought that question, the realization suddenly hit her like a brick. Needless to say, it didn't sit well with her stomach. She'd wretch out dry heaves if she could, but Cammy knew it was pointless, given she was immobilized courtesy of one Shadowloo stasis pod…

…the place of her birth.

Panic-stricken, Cammy mentally lashed out against the cold glass, screaming thoughtfully for her body to move. A lot of good that would accomplish, as all it did was exhaust her mental faculties. That, and perhaps cause an aneurysm.

_Move, move, move, move, move!_

No response…

Her mind froze as she felt an even colder chill tingle against her skin, one that was equally familiar, and a lot more dreadful.

_No…_

Against the glass surface that was the only window of her proverbial 'home', the blonde saw a pair of pupiless eyes appear before her. Vulnerable, she felt naked as those malevolent eyes studied every inch of her body from head to toe. Her face, she knew, looked emotionless to outside looking in. Her mind, however, was racing aimlessly, her heart beating erratically. A light spark flickered momentarily from those hideous white eyes, as the monster known as Vega wordlessly smirked with approval.

_Let… let me out…_ she thought.

Vega folded his gauntleted forearms across his broad, muscular chest. Words, it seemed, were directed to one of the scientists in the background, though his hollow eyes never left Cammy's sight. She couldn't be quite certain, and given her current state, she didn't quite care. All she cared about at this very moment was to get as far away from that dreadful monster as possible.

_Let me out, let me out, let me – _

The stasis pod let out a quiet hiss as the glass canopy slid open. A light draft wafted against her skin, giving her goose bumps all over.

"Do not be shy," Vega mused. "Come."

She felt her body slowly begin to stir, though she immediately realized it was not of her own accord. Helpless to do anything, Cammy involuntarily lifted herself upright, and looked the monster in his eyes. Robotically, she grasped the sides of her stasis pod, swung her legs over, and stepped onto the frigid ground. Straightening herself, she barely managed to take her first step when the demon did something quite unexpected: he held her in a tight, dare she might say, brotherly embrace…

_Huh…_ she gasped internally.

Two light pats against the back of her shoulders later, Vega slowly released his embrace and looked her with a grin. "We have been looking for you for a long time."

Cammy involuntarily blinked back in confusion. "Looking for me?" she heard herself ask in a decidedly low baritone. _That isn't my voice…_ she thought. Instinctively, she crooked her head to get a better view of her body… at least that would have been the idea, save that her body would not respond to her thoughts. However, she did manage to catch a small glimpse of her shadow on the wall, and concluded that it was _definitely_ not her body…

"Indeed we have… dear, brother…" Vega replied.

_Brother?_ she blinked again. "Who… who are you?" she found her… _himself_ asking.

Vega smirked at the question and, stepping back, held her… _his_ shoulders with a firm grasp. Under the dim spotlight, Cammy had a better look at the beast standing before her, and soon realized the monster she (or rather _he_) was speaking to was not Vega at all. Similar in physique, yet noticeably younger, lacking some of the wizened features of the former, though possessing the same sinister aura in his eyes. His skin complexion was noticeably lighter than Vega's, a deathly pale color, and his hair was an unusual shade of cobalt.

"I am Rigel," the man stated.

Cammy felt her eyes involuntarily stare at the man in even more confusion. Vega…or rather… _Rigel_ let out a quiet chuckle at his _brother's_ apprehension.

"You have many questions," he continued. "I can see it in your eyes. Do not worry. All will be answered in time. For now, we have much work to do."

_Work you say?_

Before Cammy could say anything further, Rigel gave her a quick pat on the shoulders and, taking a few majestic strides, stepped towards an open doorway. Just as he was about to exit out of the lab, Rigel stopped in his tracks, and gestured slightly with his head.

"Come," he said. "We won't bite."

Cammy felt hesitant to follow the man, particularly after hearing the word 'we', and it seemed her body agreed. Curiosity won out, however, and the agent felt compelled to follow. Almost as if in agreement, her body took a few tentative steps before taking full strides out the doorway.

Upon setting foot outside of the lab, the Delta Red agent wanted to let out a gasp. She had seen many strange things throughout her entire life, yet nothing had made her feel in as much unease as the group of people standing before her. To her left, a row of men of equal stature, the same broad shoulders, the same muscular frame. Though varying somewhat in skin tone and hair, all of them possessed the same facial features as Rigel, including those empty, ominous eyes… and by extension, Vega. To her right, and perhaps more disturbing, a row of women, diminutive in stature, decidedly very attractive. Like the row of men, their skin tone and hair varied from one individual to another, and yet their build and their face – _especially_ their face – the small, tiny point of the nose, the slight curve of their cheekbones, their tender chins, the tiny yet suppleness of their lips, and, within that frame of smallness, a pair of large, round, penetrating eyes, eyes belying much strength within a tiny frame…

… exactly the same as Cammy's.

With a light flourish, Rigel spun around and looked his 'brother' in the eye and made a grand gesture with his arms.

"Meet the rest of your family… Antares," he proclaimed.

Shocked at what she saw, Cammy wanted to let out a gasp… and to her surprise, she actually _did_.

"Hah!" she exhaled, as she felt her whole body suddenly jolt. Her knees buckling underneath, she caught herself with her hands just before she hit the ground. Gasping for breath, the Delta Red agent looked up to where Rigel was standing, yet found nothing but twisted beams and shattered concrete. Blinking twice, it took her several moments for her mind to readjust to the sudden change of her surroundings.

_What… was that…_ her mind reeled, unable to form a proper thought within the rush of emotions. Cammy willed her head to look down at her hands, and thankfully was able to do so. _Yes… definitely my hands…_ she thought. Pulling herself to a kneeling position, she took several quick glances at her body, patting her arms, thighs, torso, and face. _Yes… body… definitely mine…_ she assured herself.

Steadying her breath, she slowly picked herself off the ground, and nearly doubled over as she felt a shot of pain on her back. She suppressed the urge to mutter a curse, though the large bloody laceration made it rather difficult to do so. She was cut, she remembered, and the stitches Antares helped to apply had broke during one of his… episodes.

Antares…

Eyes widened, Cammy glanced around her surroundings, her fighting instincts kicking in.

Nothing.

"Where the bloody hell are you?" she muttered to herself.

Given the battered condition she was in, she wanted to rest. Doubly more so after that… that… dream? No, not quite a dream. More along the lines of a memory… a fragment of the past.

Antares' past.

Piecing her memory together, after that last bout of psycho-meltdown, by all accounts, Cammy should have been dead. Somehow, she survived, perhaps from some divine intervention, perhaps from Antares himself, or perhaps it was just dumb luck.

Whatever.

Regardless, Antares is now missing, and given the danger he posed to both himself and the surroundings, she needed to find him fast. Easier said than done, given the physical state she was in. Her back hurt, her head hurt, her arm hurt, her legs hurt, parts she never knew existed hurt… and yet for all the cuts and bruises she felt, those injuries were the least of her concerns. In fact, much to her surprise, there was one persistent thought that was nagging at her since the whole ordeal began.

"You better still be alive, Lewis," she thought aloud.

* * *

><p>For the most part, Avery was indeed still alive. On the other hand, he also hadn't moved from his spot since the last explosion. He took a quick look at his surroundings, and sure enough, the room he was in looked worse than it had been before. More rocks, more debris, more loose cables, and in general, more problems. Since this 'unofficial mission' begun, giant explosions, falling objects, and acts of violence had become a recurring theme, one which he found himself lucky to survive. Rubbing the dirt off his face with his muscular forearm, he gave himself a quick examination. Aside from the fresh new bumps, bruises, and burns, the giant was otherwise in one piece. Movement should be fine, save for the fact that he was being pinned by something… or rather,<em> someone<em>…

The tiny brunette who had attacked him early on laid on top of him unmoving, knocked unconscious when the whole room came falling apart around them. Avery got quite the eyeful when the woman landed on top of him, and probably would have enjoyed it more, save for the fact that she looked every bit like a younger version of Cammy. From the large eyes down to the delicate features of her face, including those soft, tiny lips… He wasn't sure whether he should be afraid or aroused, seeing a petite young woman possessing the face of her (scary) boss, yet the tight rump of a –

_Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_

The giant decided to turn away from the woman and refocus himself on the situation at hand. The room looked to be in greater disarray than before, he was pinned underneath by a woman who had earlier tried to kill him, and Cammy was still missing. One piece of good news, though. The exit to the room was still holding solid, and hopefully so would the rest of the hallways. All he had to do was push the woman off of him and be on his way. Slowly, he lifted his massive hands and placed them on her shoulders. Gingerly, he began to push her… and stopped.

He found himself not wanting to disturb her, and not for the right reasons.

Avery took another peak at the brunette's face. She looked peaceful lying on his chest, much cuter than when she was trying to kill him, he thought to himself. She also looked like Cammy. She had a darker complexion, but she still looked like his commander. She also had nice legs. He also wondered how she could walk with that thong wedged between her –

_Ugh, bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_

"Ugh…" he heard a voice groan.

Avery still did not move as the brunette began to stir. He could see her eyes flutter as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Upon opening her brown eyes, she found herself staring straight at the giant's face. All the scarred titan could do was look back. All the brunette could do was gasp.

"Boo," he responded. _Smooth, idiot, very smooth, _he chided himself.

Without uttering another sound, the woman suddenly pushed herself off the giant and clumsily fell onto her rump. She winced both from the pain of the fall and the sting in her head. She held her hand on her forehead, and felt a viscous fluid against her fingertips.

"Damn it…" she grunted under her breath, as she tried to distance herself further away from the man.

"Hold still," Avery said.

Before the woman could respond, the giant removed the woman's hands away from her face.

"What are you doing!?" she yelped, struggling against the giant's grip.

"I want to know, too," he muttered. "And I told you to… ugh… hold… still…"

The woman still struggled under Avery's grip, firm, yet surprisingly gentle given his massive frame. Finally, she gave him a kick to the chest, and managed to push him away.

"Woman, I'm trying to help!" he growled. _Why, I don't know, but I'm trying to help,_ he thought.

"I don't need your – ngh!" she groaned, holding her forehead again.

The giant let out a sigh and approached the woman carefully. "Hold still… _please_," he emphasized.

Again, the woman began to struggle, though she noticeably wavered as the giant tried to remove the hand away to get a better look at her bleeding forehead. Deciding that he was not a threat, at least for now, she relented and allowed him to examine her wound. The gash looked rather deep, likely the result of some kind of falling debris, and the bleeding didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Ripping a piece of cloth from his shirt, he quickly tied it around her head.

"I said I didn't need help…" the woman muttered.

"You're welcome," he replied, examining the woman for any other injuries.

"Why are you even helping me?" she asked, her annoyance clearly audible from her tone.

'_Cause I'm an idiot, 'cause you're hot, 'cause you got nice legs, 'cause you got a nice rack – bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_ "'Cause I'm gonna need help getting out of this hellhole," he replied. "We're deep in this facility, and chances of leaving here are getting slimmer by the minute. The explosions don't help, so I thought, as long as you're being a good little girl, we could help each other out."

"That's not the only reason," she pointed out, much to the giant's dismay. "Why are you really helping me?"

Avery opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His mind raced to find an appropriate answer without coming off as a dirty old man. He could not believe he was having that much difficulty doing so, seeing as this was not the first time he looked at a woman in a tight outfit, and he certainly shouldn't be entertaining such thoughts given that he was more than used to being around the likes of Cammy. Also, Cammy dislocated his head. This one nearly burned him alive.

The woman merely looked at the giant, waiting for him to finish his answer.

"I want to know why the hell you look like my boss," he finally answered.

The brunette's expression of annoyance turned into an expression of confusion. "What did you just say?"

"I want to know why the hell you look like my boss," he repeated.

The woman blinked at the giant, something about those words clicking in her mind. Avery could feel her eyes on him as she examined the scarred man up and down, fixing her eyes on his uniform. Standard military combat fatigues composed of a tight, sleeveless shirt, thick cargos, and combat boots, albeit soiled from wear and tear, likely the result of fighting within the facility, amongst other things. What she focused on was the emblem sewn on his chest, discolored and muddled by dirt, yet still distinct from the rest of his dark uniform: a red triangle flipped upside down.

"Your commander is the Killer Bee?" she asked, though it was more of a statement of fact than an actual question.

"Who are you?" he asked in return.

The brunette ignored the question, but was instead preoccupied with her own thoughts. In a reversal of roles, Avery stared at the woman, beckoning with a few slow gestures with his head while waiting for her to answer him.

"She's here," she said, not quite the answer he was looking for. "She's really here…" she repeated, a smile threatening to escape from the edges of her lips, as though she were, as far as Avery could tell, containing her excitement. That expression evaporated as she came to yet another realization. "She learned of Antares' whereabouts, didn't she?"

"Anta-what?"

The brunette gritted her teeth, her face filled with a sense of dread. "I must find them both before Rigel does," she said with determination, and quickly leapt to her feet.

"Wait a sec – " Avery said in disbelief, as he hopped to his feet and walked towards the woman. "You haven't even answered my question – "

"Deneb," she cut him off, and, hopping over some overturned equipment, strode towards the door.

Stunned, Avery stood in his tracks and found his eyes gradually begin to wander down to her backside –

_Again, bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_ Refocusing himself, the giant took a few large strides of his own, and followed the woman close behind.

* * *

><p>Holding herself against the walls, Cammy ambled through the hall trying her hardest to ignore the pain. She had been through far worse in the past against far greater odds, odds by the names of Juri Han and Vega, amongst others. Even that thrashing from Crimson Viper (that stuck up American… <em>dog<em>, which would be the nicest thing Cammy could think of to describe the CIA agent) was much, much worse. A couple of cuts from and out-of-control clone of her creator was nothing… at least that's what she tried to tell herself.

"Keep it together, Cammy," she murmured, psyching herself to push further.

Groping through the broken corridors, she found herself in a large, empty expanse, the largest area within the underground facility yet. The ground was littered with all kinds of clutter, to the point where she had no idea what this part of the installation was for. Compared to the rest of the facility, however, this place seemed relatively intact. At the very least, Cammy felt she could walk without the floor crumbling beneath her feet at any moment. It was dangerous, but seeing as she had nowhere else to go, she limped forward, attempting to maintain her balance in the process.

As she trudged through the masses of broken machinery and equipment, a faint, pulsating hue of purple light flickered not too far from where she stood. She immediately knew the source of that glow, and felt her heart skip a few beats faster at the thought alone. As anxious as she felt, however, the Delta Red agent had come this far, and, whatever she had to do, she desperately wanted to see this thing through. Steeling her resolve, the wounded blonde crept towards the purple glow of psycho power, preparing herself for the worst.

With sore muscles and painful wounds, the walk felt much longer than it really was, yet she eventually found herself a few feet from the glow. Gritting her teeth, she quietly limped towards a large piece of burnt steel and leaned against the massive debris to keep herself out of sight. Scanning the area for anything, she settled upon a long metal rod with a sharp tip at the end. It wasn't much, but as far as weapons go, it was all she got. Picking it off the ground, she grasped the rod firmly in her small hands, testing the weight, and snuck her way towards the glow.

"You… you finally… made it…"

Startled, Cammy nearly dropped the rod from her hands.

"For… for a moment…" Antares continued, his voice clearly strained, "I thought… you… you were dead…"

Seeing no point in keeping herself hidden, she held the rod tightly and ambled cautiously towards her goal. Antares did not move from his spot, down on his hands and knees as he struggled to contain his psycho powers. Cammy stood in front of him, weapon in hand, yet Antares still made no move towards the agent. There was good reason, as Cammy could see from his expression alone. At the moment, he managed to contain his powers just enough to only emit a purple hue instead of its usual chaotic effigy. With his body quivering, and sweat drenching his body, it was only a matter of time before he would 'erupt' once more, and Cammy had the feeling this one would be the worst.

"Please…" he muttered, the glow around his body growing brighter. "Help… me…"

Cammy felt herself froze, taken aback by his plea. A part of her felt a tinge of pity over the clone and the pathetic state he was in. She even considered, if only briefly, to try and help him. Unfortunately for him, the only way she knew how to help would be to drive that rod through his heart to end his suffering…

Swirls of chaotic energy dance around Antares' body as his hold over his psycho powers continued to wane ever so slowly. "I… I didn't mean… to…" his voice cracked.

Small tendrils of flame lashed outward from his hunched form, beckoning towards Cammy. As the Delta Red agent was about to follow through with the thought of ending the clone's life, something in her made her stop, a kind of feeling… no, more than that, a combination of feeling… and a sensation… something made her stop…

"I didn't want to kill them!" he cried out. "I couldn't… stop myself…" Antares bowed his head low to the ground, his arms entangled around the back of his head as he trembled not just from the strain of holding his powers in check, but from a sudden, overwhelming wave of guilt as he made that confession. "I didn't want to kill anyone… no more killing… it was why I ran away…" he continued.

As he spoke, Cammy suddenly realized what that sensation was. It was that same paralyzing sense she had felt when she had first encountered Antares, all that buried dread and anger erupting to the surface. No, not just that… it was also the feeling she had when she was momentarily 'living out' one of his memories. It was a mix of both, and Cammy, especially in her battered form, wanted none of that. Quickly, she tried to steel her mind from his apparent 'empathy', bracing herself while clumsily raising the rod over her head to finish him off…

…_and then, her surroundings suddenly changed. More than that, the setting became, as best as she could put it, a blur, with the images constantly changing. One moment, she found herself in a lab, lying in a Shadoloo stasis pod. The next, she found herself in a town set ablaze, standing next to a group of men and women bearing the faces of both Vega and herself with voices screaming in agony in the background. The image changed again, this one with the cobalt haired clone, the one called 'Rigel', making grand gestures to an apparent audience, the words inaudible, save for 'brothers and sisters' and 'vengeance'. Then the setting shifted again to a dark, dank compound, surrounded by many people while she found herself strapped onto a bed with tubes attached to her body. Then the scene changed, this time in what appeared to be a forest, with images of men and women killed off one by one. Another scene shift, more men and women dying, this one however involved Vega's and Cammy's doppelgangers being surrounded by some unknown force, and finished off execution style. The next image showed one with Rigel again standing over what appeared to be a grave, along with a woman, this one with dark hair and a similar complexion to Vega, yet otherwise possessing Cammy's physical features. Rigel looked to be in rage while the woman looked to be holding back tears. More images flashed, more death, more blood, more darkness. The images kept changing, the scene unable to stay still for long. It wasn't long before Cammy's knees started to buckle, her head pounding mercilessly from the information overload. And then…_

"_Infusion process stable. Psycho power levels increased to nineteen percent."_

"_Heart rate steady. Subject Antares showing no signs of rejection."_

"_Continue the infusion. I want those levels to be at least at twenty five before we continue the next phase."_

"_Sir, heart rate has elevated."_

"_Infusion level has suddenly spiked."_

"_Life signs are fluctuating!"_

"_Infusion level is going critical!"_

"_Shut it off, shut it off!"_

"_I can't! It won't let me!"_

"_Quarantine the lab, now!"_

…_the next image was filled with fire… and an uncontrollable rage, literally exploding from within, as men and women all around were killed by her own hands… or rather, _Antares' _hands. She wasn't certain as the line between her own self and Antares' had been erased. All she knew was this upheaval of anger… which was quickly followed by anguish… a crippling sense of sadness that was both different and familiar at the same time. And then…_

Cammy collapsed on the ground, letting out an ear-piercing scream. Then, silence… save for Antares' sobs next to her.

"I didn't want to kill them," he cried. "I didn't want to kill them but I couldn't stop myself, I couldn't… help myself and they all burned, died all around just like what happened to all the other people before when Rigel told us to burn all those villages, those men and women and children, and my brothers and sisters, they all died and I couldn't do anything to stop… to stop…"

Cammy barely understood a word he said. All she wanted to do was to purge those images and emotions from her soul. The pain, the guilt, she felt violated from all of it. The Delta Red agent wanted to cry.

"I'm sorry," Antares whimpered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm…"

"Stop it!" Cammy shouted with arms bound around her ears and eyes tightly shut. She felt awful, and she wanted with all her might and all her will to hate Antares. However, the most damning thing happened… she felt some sympathy towards him. She actually in some form understood his plight, even though in his case his actions were more of his own than the mind control she was subjected to. That latter point made her less forgiving, yet she still felt a sense of pity towards him. Either that, or perhaps it was a case of emotional transference from his memories to her mind. Now she was totally confused.

Hours seemed to have passed, yet when Cammy lifted her head, Antares was still prostrate on the ground, his condition seemingly remaining unchanged. She still felt like a wreck.

"Sister…" Antares muttered, feebly reaching his hand outward.

"Stop, I'm not your… just stop," she snapped, inching away from the clone. "I get it, you want 'this'," she gestured with one hand, "to go away." Cammy swallowed hard, trying to get rid of that lump in her throat. "What the hell do you want me to do," she muttered hoarsely, her voice starting to trail.

"Not a single thing… 'sister'."

Before anyone could react, a hand enveloped in blue flame grabbed Cammy by the head and yanked her to the air. Legs dangling, Cammy felt her face burn from the fiery group, yet was unable to scream as she felt a surge of malevolent energy burst from the fiery palm explode on her face. The hand promptly dropped a now unconscious Cammy to the ground. Adding insult to injury, a heavy foot stepped on her limp form, claiming superiority over the fallen agent.

"Br-brother!?" Antares stammered.

Snarling at Cammy's broken form, the new intruder slowly, majestically turned his head, soulless white eyes reflecting the owner's cruelty over the shocked clone.

"You have been very bad today, Antares," Rigel said.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<strong> Good news, folks. I updated! Bad news. Remember how I kinda mentioned I would need one more chapter to finish this? I lied. With Rigel's introduction, I realized I need another chapter to devote some time to him and round things off. So hopefully the next chapter will truly be the last. Hopefully...


End file.
